NTT Employees Pension Fund

NTT Employees Pension Fund

The NTT Employees Pension Fund was founded in 1997, when the mutual-aid pension system of Japan's old three public corporations — NTT, JR, and JT — was integrated into the national Employees' Pension scheme. The fund originally formed as the NTT Employees' Pension Fund (厚生年金基金), carrying the national pension substitution portion, and converted to its current defined-benefit corporate pension fund structure in July 2007 after returning that substitution obligation to the state. Akira Shimada and Takashi Hiroi, senior leaders of the parent NTT Corporation, serve as key contacts for the fund's governance. The fund deploys across real estate, private equity, infrastructure, and data centers with a global mandate that extends well beyond Japan. Its core commercial real estate portfolio spans both domestic and international markets, while a dedicated industrial allocation targets data center assets worldwide — a footprint that mirrors NTT Group's own operational push into global digital infrastructure. Private equity LP interests and infrastructure fund commitments round out the alternative-investment sleeve, giving the fund exposure to third-party-managed vehicles rather than direct operating-company stakes. Though the fund does not disclose total AUM or headcount, its institutional posture is reinforced through public signatory commitments. It has been a Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) signatory since 2016 and adheres to Japan's Stewardship Code, aligning with the country's broader push for engagement-oriented institutional investing. The fund is a member of Japan's Pension Fund Association, the national body for corporate pension plans. In May 2026, the fund notified participants of a server-maintenance window and updated guidance on the claiming process for in-service supplementary pensions, underscoring its ongoing operational activity. The fund's architecture sets it apart from peer Japanese corporate pension plans: it operates a fund-type defined-benefit structure (基金型) rather than a contract-type plan, which gives it a distinct legal entity and separate asset management function. That structure, combined with the parent company's NTT Data and data-center real-estate capabilities, creates a rare alignment between a pension fund's own infrastructure allocation and the sponsor's operational domain — a configuration that shapes the fund's tilt toward digital-infrastructure real assets.