Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world’s largest pension fund, says it has allocated $3.7bn to Morningstar’s new Japan ex-REIT Gender Diversity Tilt Index.

The Morningstar Japan ex-REIT Gender Diversity Tilt Index is designed to provide exposure to Japan-based companies exhibiting strong gender diversity policy and practices. The index includes Japanese companies across a range of sectors, such as Sony Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Daiichi Sankyo Co, that have strong diversity policies. The index is powered by the methodology of Morningstar Indexes and the gender equality scorecard of Equileap, a provider of data on gender equality for investors.

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund says it has allocated 500 billion yen (approximately USD 3.7 billion) to the associated new index.

Ron Bundy, president of Morningstar Indexes, says, “Gender equality, transparency and inclusive leadership practices are incredibly important factors in the success of global companies and investors. Beyond the social aspects of gender equality, inclusive leadership has proven to make companies more competitive over time. We are excited to be able to expand on our collaboration with GPIF and Equileap to provide a more meaningful catalyst to help drive improvement in company practices while helping investors achieve their goals.”

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