World’s largest pension awards mandate as it moves into global real assets. : Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) has moved a step closer to investing in global infrastructure by hiring its first fund-of-funds manager for the asset class. The world’s largest pension fund said it had awarded the mandate to StepStone Infrastructure & Real Assets and has appointed Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Company as gatekeeper. The announcement follows a call for applications from infrastructure and real estate multi-managers in April 2017. The ¥157trn (€1.17trn) pension fund is yet to announce its first global real estate fund-of-funds manager.