Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) achieved a record quarterly gain in the three months ending June, driven by rallies in global and domestic stock markets that offset lackluster performance in government bonds.

One of the world's largest pension funds announced on Friday in Tokyo that its quarterly profit reached 24.1 trillion yen (approximately $152 billion), with a return rate of 8.2%. Total assets under management climbed to 317.76 trillion yen.

Returns on investments in Japanese equities stood at 14.5%, while domestic bonds posted a negative return of 1.1%. Overseas stocks generated a 16.9% return, and foreign bonds delivered a 3.1% return.

As of June, Japanese government bonds accounted for 25.59% of the fund's assets, down from 26.91% in March. Prior to 2020, the allocation target for domestic bonds was set at 35%. Despite encouragement from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's administration for investors like GPIF to increase their exposure to Japanese assets in order to support local markets, the performance of Japanese bonds has lagged.

The fund's leadership stated that it will manage assets solely in the long-term interest of its beneficiaries, indicating that GPIF may not comply with the government's calls to adjust its investment strategy.