Japanese Life Insurers Plan to Increase Bond Purchases to Support Japanese Government Bond Market

Japanese life insurers have signaled they will maintain or increase purchases of domestic bonds in the second half of this fiscal year, potentially bolstering upcoming auctions for Japanese government bonds. Japan Post Insurance stated plans to increase purchases of yen-denominated bonds. Daido Life Insurance Co. raised its plan to increase holdings of domestic bonds, with additional purchases primarily through corporate bonds. Meanwhile, Aioi Nissay Dowa intends to maintain roughly unchanged holdings in Japanese government bonds while selling lower-yielding bonds to allocate toward higher-yielding securities. These plans further indicate that bond demand from insurers, one of the most important investor groups in the Japanese debt market, is beginning to recover.