Economist Yuri Okina has been tapped to become the first female head of the Government Pension Investment Fund¡¯s key management committee, in the latest sign that Japan is opening up leadership roles to women.
Okina will start her five-year term as the chair of the GPIF¡¯s 10-person management committee panel on April 1, according to a statement from Japan¡¯s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The GPIF is one of the world¡¯s biggest pension funds, managing more than ?295 trillion ($1.9 trillion) in assets as of the end of 2025.
The fund divides its investments between stocks and bonds in the home market and those two assets overseas, with each getting about a quarter stake. While Okina¡¯s position is a significant one, the Bank of Japan¡¯s top job is the governor, who leads a committee to decide on monetary policy moves-Kazuo Ueda is the current governor.
Japan has long trailed other major economies in terms of workplace equality for women. Yet Sanae Takaichi became Japan¡¯s first female prime minister in October, and her choice for the powerful finance minister position was another woman, Satsuki Katayama.
Takaichi has shown little interest in tackling inequality between the sexes in Japan. Women earned 75% of men¡¯s wages across all industries in Japan in 2023, one of the widest differentials in the world, according to data from a government-led panel on women in the workplace.
Okina left the BOJ to join the Japan Research Institute in 1992 and got a doctorate in economics at Kyoto University in 2011. Her recent publications have examined how to use fiscal policy to help disadvantaged people like the elderly, according to a summary.
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