World’s Largest Pension Fund Reappoints Mizuno as CIO

(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund reappointed Hiromichi Mizuno as its investment chief overseeing $1.47 trillion in assets.

Mizuno, whose term was extended to March 31 after expiring Monday, captained sweeping changes to the investment strategy of the world’s largest pension fund over the past five years. He became the GPIF’s first chief investment officer in January 2015, managing the fund’s shift to stocks from domestic debt, while advocating assets that incorporate environmental, social and governance factors.

The fund will consider currency-hedged overseas bond holdings as similar to domestic debt investments, it said in a statement on Tuesday. That will allow the GPIF to buy more foreign debt, as it’s already close to the 19% limit in its current mandate.

While the GPIF has generated a positive return for four out of five past fiscal years with its total assets reaching a record high last year, it is still short of recouping its record 14.8 trillion yen loss from the fourth quarter of 2018.

For background on Mizuno’s tenure as CIO, click here

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