Satoshi Tezuka

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Japan lays out strategy to tackle $33bn digital trade deficit

Jun 21, 2024 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka

TOKYO -- Japan has sounded the alarm about waning digital competitiveness and an outflow of wealth, as the government's latest policy plan calls for replacing aging systems and training talent in a bid to catch up. The fiscal 2024 edition of the Priority Policy Program for Realizing Digital Society, released Friday, is the first to mention Japan's "digital deficit," which has been swelling with mounting fees for software licensing, cloud storage and online advertising.
Nippon Life eyes acquisitions in North America to double profit by 2035

Mar 21, 2024 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka

TOKYO -- Nippon Life Insurance plans to double its core operating profit to roughly 1.4 trillion yen ($9.22 billion) by the middle of the next decade by spending heavily on acquisitions in the near term, the company said Thursday, signaling that it will look for targets in North America and elsewhere. Japan's largest life insurance company released a three-year business plan beginning in the next fiscal year, which starts in April, together with a long-term vision through fiscal 2035.
Japan's Dai-ichi Life to invest $255m in U.S. credit fund Canyon Partners

Mar 14, 2024 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka

TOKYO -- Dai-ichi Life Holdings has agreed to buy a minority stake in U.S. fund manager Canyon Partners, the Japanese insurance provider said Thursday, as it aims to expand its alternative assets business. Dai-ichi Life and Canyon Partners signed the funding deal the same day. Dai-ichi Life's U.S. subsidiary DLUS will purchase a 19.9% stake for $255 million in a newly created holding company overseeing Canyon Partners.
Japan's Dai-ichi Life outbids competitor on Benefit One acquisition

Feb 8, 2024 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka

TOKYO -- Dai-ichi Life Holdings has reached an agreement to acquire Japanese employee benefits provider Benefit One from parent Pasona Group, the Japanese life insurer announced Thursday. Dai-ichi Life will launch a tender offer on Friday after winning a bidding battle with medical information website operator M3. Dai-ichi Life aims to use the acquisition to expand non-insurance operations.
Japan insurer Meiji Yasuda to invest $4bn in private assets

Jan 5, 2024 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka

TOKYO -- Japan's Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance plans to invest about 600 billion yen ($4.2 billion) in domestic and overseas private assets over the next three years, aiming to expand beyond government bonds and stocks in a bid to raise returns. "We will actively invest in long-term assets that are compatible with life insurance, focusing on private equity and private debt," President Hideki Nagashima told Nikkei.
Japan's Sumitomo Life to acquire Singapore Life in Asian push

Dec 22, 2023 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka

TOKYO -- Sumitomo Life Insurance will spend more than $1 billion to raise its investment in Singapore Life Holdings, the Japanese insurer said Friday, as it seeks growth in a core Asian market. Sumitomo Life will buy the 35% stake in Singlife held by U.S. private equity firm TPG for 1.58 billion Singapore dollars ($1.19 billion).
Dai-ichi Life makes rare counterproposal to acquire Benefit One

Dec 9, 2023 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka |Jun Watanabe

TOKYO -- Dai-ichi Life Holdings this week announced an unusual competing takeover bid to acquire Benefit One, a corporate welfare benefits provider in Japan, for which another company is already offering a bid, stepping away from the life insurance company's stance as a long-time stable shareholder of the Japanese company. The Japanese insurance company announced on Thursday that it will launch a takeover bid for Benefit One.
Japanese life insurers wade into unhedged foreign bonds

Oct 26, 2023 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka

TOKYO -- Four of Japan's biggest life insurance companies are poised to increase foreign bond holdings with no currency hedge in the coming months, betting that the yen will hold steady. The move was included in investment plans released by 10 Japanese life insurers for the second half through March 2024.
Japan life insurers set to buy more ultralong bonds on BOJ policy shift

Aug 10, 2023 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka

TOKYO -- Japan's big life insurance companies are poised to buy more ultra long-term Japanese government bonds, emboldened by the Bank of Japan's move to relax its hold on the high end of the yield curve. Seven out of nine leading life insurers told Nikkei the BOJ's policy adjustment, which allows 10-year JGB yields to rise above 0.5%, is a positive factor for buying government debt.
Japan insurers bet big on country's $745m pet policy market

May 6, 2023 | asia.nikkei.com | Satoshi Tezuka

TOKYO -- Japanese insurers are jumping into the country's pet insurance market, which has grown 50% to over 100 billion yen ($744.6 million) in three years, in the hope that pet policies will provide an opportunity to attract new customers. The opportunity comes with challenges, however, as pet insurance is not a very profitable business. Some financially weak small- and midsize pet insurers have received administrative punishment.