Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) reported an investment gain of 41.4 trillion yen (US$286 billion) for its financial year ended March 31, the second highest on record and a 24-fold increase from the previous year as stock markets rallied and the yen weakened.

The investment return jumped to 15.83% from 0.71% in the year ended March 2025 when the investment gain was just 1.73 trillion yen, the world’s largest pension fund says in a statement. It did not provide a detailed analysis of the performance.

Domestic equities were the largest contributor with an investment gain of 20.46 trillion yen as the benchmark Nikkei 225 index surged 45%. The investment gain from foreign equities was 16.62 trillion yen, while foreign bonds delivered  8.04 trillion yen.

But the fund’s investment in Japanese bonds incurred a 3.72 trillion yen loss as the Bank of Japan’s rate hikes drove down bond prices and lifted yields.

The GPIF’s total assets under management as of March 31 was a record high 292.6 trillion yen,  up  17.13% from a year ago.