The £1tn Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan has taken a key step towards diversification into property, appointing a head of real estate.
The world’s largest public pension fund has appointed Hideto Yamada to a role that is expected to be one of the most influential global property jobs in the coming years.
Yamada, who joins from Mitsui Fudosan, is well known in the UK and Europe, having led Mitsui’s business in the region for eight years before returning to Japan in April last year. He will join GPIF on 1 February.
The fund plans to allocate 5% of its spending to alternatives, which includes private equity and infrastructure as well as real estate. It has appointed CBRE Capital Advisors in Tokyo to advise it on its real estate strategy.
It is expected that GPIF will initially appoint a collection of asset management and capital allocation partners – many of which are likely to be domestic – to act as intermediaries. From this, it will appoint more traditional property fund managers. As yet it is not known how focused the individual mandates will be – they could be split as broadly as the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa, or be more country-specific.
GPIF has indicated to managers that initial appointments could be made as early as April. However, its move into the sector has long been mooted and there is the potential for delay given the magnitude of the process.
In a note to contacts regarding his departure, Yamada said: “Considering the size of [GPIF’s] assets, it has a business plan to diversify its investment to the market outside Japan. At this point the firm still has a very small team for real estate, so my role includes reinforcing the internal team and identifying/engaging the external advisers and fund managers to support this plan.”
During Yamada’s tenure at Mitsui in the UK he was involved in a number of high-profile schemes including the former BBC Television Centre, W12; One Angel Court, EC2; 8-10 Moorgate, EC2; and 5 Hanover Square, W1. He also bought a 15% stake in Stanhope for the company in 2006 and increased this to 25% in 2012.
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