Japan pension posts record loss in 2008/09 -survey

TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japanese corporate pension funds lost a record 17.1 percent on their investments in the year that ended on March 31 due to a rise in the yen and falls in share prices as the financial crisis ground on, a survey by a U.S. consultancy showed.

It was the worst yearly performance for the funds on records dating back to 1997, said Watson Wyatt WW.N, which surveys about 120 Japanese pension funds on a quarterly basis.

Watson Wyatt said the situation deteriorated from September after the failure of Lehman Brothers and a slew of financial problems.

The funds' performance improved in the January-March quarter to a fall of 1.7 percent on average after tumbling an average 11.6 percent in October-December.

The yen JPY= dropped to around 100 yen to the dollar in March after surging to a 13-½ year high in January.

A stronger yen usually pushes down the value of foreign currency-denominated securities held by pension funds.

Falls in share prices also likely hurt their performance.

The Nikkei share average .N225 slid to a 26-year closing low and the broader Topix index .TOPX fell to a 25-year low in March amid concerns over the state of the export-driven Japanese economy. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Hugh Lawson)