Japan\\\'s public pension fund to adopt government\\\'s shareholder code

TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters): Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) plans to adopt new government guidelines for institutional investors designed to improve corporate governance and investment returns.
The $1.26 trillion fund in a statement on Friday said it is important to adopt the Japanese Stewardship Code, which calls on shareholders to disclose how they vote at annual general meetings and engage more actively with company management.
The ultimate aim of the code is to stoke economic growth.
The world's largest public pension fund had been widely expected to adopt the code after the recommendation of a government advisory panel appointed in November.
The fund had 22.15 trillion yen ($218 billion) invested in Japanese equities as of the end of December, accounting for almost 17 per cent of its total portfolio.
With GPIF adopting the code, other institutional investors could follow suit, government officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.