Latest Japan Headlines
All the headlines from our Japan Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Japan Insurers to Invest in Riskier Non-Government Bonds, Seeking Higher Returns
Apr 25 2019 // As bond yields evaporate globally, many Japanese insurers are looking to secure higher returns at home and abroad by diversifying into riskier corporate and other non-government bonds in the financial year that began this...
Japan Post Holdings’ Insurance Unit to Sell Shares Worth $3.7B in Global Offering
Apr 5 2019 // Japan Post Holdings Co.’s insurance unit is conducting a secondary sale of shares held by its parent worth 409 billion yen ($3.7 billion) in a global offering. In its first sale since its listing in November 2015,...
Pacific Ocean’s El Niño Likely to Continue into Summer: Japan Weather Bureau
Feb 12 2019 // Japan’s weather bureau on Tuesday said the El Niño weather pattern appeared to be continuing, with a 70-percent chance it would stretch into the northern hemisphere summer. El Niño is a warming of ocean surface...
Japan Insurers Eye China Acquisitions in Continuation of Overseas Deal Spree
Feb 4 2019 // Japanese insurance companies have spent more than $50 billion on acquisitions over the past five years to become the world’s second-largest buyer of insurance assets, and the deals spree won’t be slowing down...
Why Many Americans Will Never Be Able to Retire: Viewpoint
Jan 25 2019 // Traditionally, Americans could look forward to a comfortable retirement. After four decades in an office or a factory, sometime in their 60s they would lay down their burdens and enjoy a final couple of decades with time...
Insurance Covered $90B of Natural Disaster Losses in 2018, Leaving 60% Protection Gap
Jan 22 2019 // The economic costs of last year’s 394 natural catastrophe events came to US$225 billion with insurance covering US$90 billion of the overall total, creating the fourth costliest year on record of insured losses,...
Swiss Re Estimates Its Q4 Natural Catastrophe Claims to Hit US$1.0B
Jan 15 2019 // Swiss Re estimates it will pay claims of approximately $1.0 billion for natural catastrophes booked in the fourth quarter of 2018, with the largest generated from California wildfires and Hurricane Michael. These natural...
California Wildfires, Hurricane Michael Top List of 2018’s Costliest Natural Disasters: Munich Re
Jan 8 2019 // The costliest natural catastrophes occurred in the United States in 2018 with one of California’s devastating wildfires and Hurricane Michael topping the list, according to Munich Re. A report from Munich Re on last...
Japan Insurance Group MS&AD to Raise Stake in Swiss Re’s UK Unit ReAssure
Dec 21 2018 // Japanese insurance group MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings (MS&AD) has agreed to increase its minority stake in ReAssure, Swiss Re’s UK closed life book consolidator, by making an additional cash investment of...
Japan’s Post Holdings Buys 7% of Insurer Aflac
Dec 19 2018 // Japan Post Holdings Co. Ltd. on Wednesday said it will buy 7 percent of U.S. insurer Aflac Inc. for about $2.4 billion, as the postal and financial conglomerate seeks new profit-drivers to counter weak growth...
Charman Promoted to CEO, Sompo Holdings Overseas Insurance; Frudd Named Int’l CEO
Dec 19 2018 // Sompo International Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, announced that John Charman, currently chairman of the board of directors and chief executive...
A Desire to Leave the World Better Than He Found It: Acts of Generosity from AIG’s Founder C.V. Starr
Dec 17 2018 // Cornelius Vander Starr had many identities, including American entrepreneur, successful businessman, salesman, fearless world traveler and business pioneer. As the founder of what is now American International Group, he...
AIG Executives Outline Path to Underwriting Profit in 2019
Nov 2 2018 // “We do see it coming. We expect that in 2019 we’re going to be in an underwriting profit position, not a great one, but a profit. And we’ll move from there to a great one.” So said Brian...
AIG Again Battered by Catastrophes But Reinsurance Lowers 3Q Net Loss
Oct 31 2018 // Catastrophe losses in Japan and North America pushed American International Group to a net loss of $1.3 billion for the third quarter of 2018, compared to a net loss of $1.7 billion in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted...
RMS Lists Top 10 ‘1-in-100-Year’ Events for Asia Pacific Region
Oct 30 2018 // The Asia Pacific region remains highly vulnerable to major catastrophes, RMS said, announcing a list of 10 “1-in-100-year” events possible in the vast area that includes the Pacific Ring of Fire and the largest...
AIG Estimates Q3 Catastrophe Losses Will Be $1.5 Billion
Oct 18 2018 // American International Group said it expects to report third quarter 2018 catastrophe losses of approximately $1.5 to $1.7 billion. These losses are largely from multiple events in Japan, including Typhoons Jebi and Trami,...
Natural Disasters in September Bring Costliest Damages to Date for 2018: Aon Report
Oct 11 2018 // Hurricane, flood, and earthquake damages made September the costliest month for natural catastrophes in 2018, according to a report from Aon’s Impact Forecasting team. September is typically the busiest month for...
Japanese Typhoons Put Downward Pressure on Creditworthiness of Insurers: S&P
Oct 4 2018 // The recent run of large natural disasters to hit Japan likely has put downward pressure on the creditworthiness of the nation’s three largest non-life insurance groups, according to S&P Global Ratings in a market...
Typhoon Trami Hammers Japan; Flights and Trains Canceled in Tokyo
Sep 30 2018 // Typhoon Trami is bringing Tokyo to a halt. East Japan Railway Co. suspended all train service in the Japanese capital on Sunday in preparation for the storm, which is hammering the southwest of the country. Flights were...
China’s Debt-Ridden Anbang Insurance Aims to Sell $200M of Japan Real Estate: Sources
Sep 26 2018 // Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd. aims to sell $200 million worth of Japanese real estate to bidders including Blackstone Group LP, about two years after buying them from the U.S. investment firm, two people with knowledge...
