Japan Post Draws Up Investment Guidelines

The Posts Ministry [Japan] aims to allow a public corporation to be set up in 2003 to take over its postal operations, [and] to entrust the management of postal savings and insurance funds to domestic and foreign investment advisory firms, ministry sources said, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported in its Monday edition. Such money is now invested in equities and other securities through trust banks. The new measure is designed to encourage competition among financial institutions so that investment returns will increase. The measure will be proposed to the Diet next year. Postal money entrusted to trust banks totaled some Y27 trillion at the end of March, but valuation loses have ballooned to Y3.86 trillion due to the stock market decline. The public corporation will be allowed to entrust fund management to various investment advisers, including foreign concerns and affiliates of life insurance companies and major banks. Meanwhile, some members of an advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi argue that the public corporation should not invest postal money in stocks because of the high risk. The ministry, therefore, aims to draft investment guidelines later this year.”