Cash balance plans touted for Japanese pension funds

Kazuhiko Ishikawa, certified pension actuary at Mizuho Trust & Banking, believes a new hybrid retirement plan scheme will be embraced by most Japanese companies over the coming years.As of April this year, the government has allowed companies to provide cash balance plans to fund employees' retirement. So far there have not been any takers, but this silence will prove short-lived.Cash balanced plans are meant to complement existing defined benefit plans, of which there are two cat…