Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the largest pension fund in the world, has appointed an international real estate expert, Hideto Yamada, as its new property head.
The move is widely seen as likely to usher in a global investment strategy for the pension fund's real estate arm.
While the majority of Japan's investors withdrew from international real estate markets in the wake of Japan's property crash in the 1990s, one exception was Mitsui Fudosan, Yamada's most recent employer.
As managing director of Mitsui Fudosan UK, Yamada led the company in several large-scale urban redevelopment projects, including the €3bn redevelopment of BBC Television Centre and White City Place in London. That proved to be one of the largest-ever overseas projects undertaken by a Japanese real estate firm.
According to Asterisk Realty, which broke the news, many Japanese institutional investors are expected to follow GPIF's strategic move into international real estate. In this way, Yamada's approach could create new standards in terms of the industry and risk management across the board in Japan.
Yamada left Mitsui Fudosan last month and joins GPIF immediately.