Asia

JAPAN - La Salle Investment Management is in the midst of developing a new range of European, Asian and US open-ended real estate funds to be marketed for the first time to Japanese pension funds.

MALAYSIA - The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) registered an 11.7% increase, to RM13.2bn (US$3.6bn), in its total gross income over 2005, its latest annual report showed.

JAPAN - The Bank of Japan's decision to end its long-running zero interest rate policy, raising rates to 0.25%, could see pension funds rejig their asset allocation, accelerating the diversification of fixed income portfolios.

JAPAN - Pension funds have been advised to treat their riskier assets with caution in light of speculation that the Bank of Japan is about to raise interest rates.

SOUTH KOREA - The government is set to reform its ailing government employee pension scheme, which is currently saddled with a KRW609bn (US$641m) deficit.

KOREA - The government is planning to reduce retired public workers' pension benefits through a reform of the public workers state pension fund.

INDIA - The pension of former servicemen will by raised by R400 to R500 per month, the government announced in answer to calls for "one rank, one pension" for the armed forces.

JAPAN - A surge in investor confidence and a supportive macro backdrop have been tipped as factors which could lead Japanese equities to outperform over the longer term.

INDIA - India's booming real estate market is becoming a hot investment spot for cash-rich international pension funds and hedge funds, according to fund managers.

JAPAN - The Japanese government is implementing a new law to encourage employers to increase the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 and to better coordinate the beginning of pension coverage with later retirement ages.