In brief: Japan’s GPIF joins GRESB for $7bn infra portfolio

The world’s largest pension fund, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, has become the first Japanese investor to join real assets sustainability benchmarking organisation GRESB for its infrastructure portfolio. Investor members of GRESB report on ESG-related data points in their portfolios annually. GRESB compiles this data to produce benchmarks and standards that members can work towards.

“We look to encourage disclosure of ESG information and promote constructive dialogue with our investment managers and really look forward to seeing how this initiative would evolve across the industry,” GPIF’s head of infrastructure Kiko Emae, told delegates at PEI Media’s Infrastructure Investor London Forum this week. GPIF’s private infrastructure portfolio is valued at ¥1 trillion ($7 billion; €7 billion). Within its infrastructure portfolio, “renewables is our largest exposure at 21 percent,” said Emae.