Global hedge funds are vying for allocations from Japan's corporate pension fund managers, who oversee about $740 billion (about ¥59.86 trillion) and are seeking alternatives to stocks following the March disaster.
Prosperity Capital Management, the largest manager of Russia-focused funds with about $5 billion in assets, plans to open an office in Tokyo in August. Van Biema Value Partners LLC, a New York-based fund of hedge funds with about $800 million in assets, is targeting Japanese pensions by offering funds that buy securities seen as inexpensive relative to the market.
Japanese pension funds are redoubling their quest to offset the world's lowest bond yield and a falling birthrate, which have curbed contributions, after the March 11 temblor sent the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average to its biggest intraday drop since 1987.