June 3, 2024
KKR & Co. is considering entering the private credit market in Japan to provide an alternative to bank loans. “It will be a medium to long-term initiative,” Hiro Hirano, the head of KKR Japan said in an interview. “I think …
May 21, 2024
Shares of Japanese insurers MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. and Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. surged after the companies announced stock buybacks, as well as plans to sell their holdings in client companies. MS&AD, which also reported full-year guidance that exceeded …
March 19, 2024
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) ended eight years of negative interest rates and other remnants of its unorthodox policy on Tuesday, making a historic shift away from its focus on reflating growth with decades of massive monetary stimulus. While the …
January 5, 2024
The earnings impact on the major domestic non-life insurers of claims from the Jan. 1, 2024 earthquake in Japan is expected to be manageable relative to the sector’s net profit, according to AM Best in a market commentary. Japan’s four …
January 3, 2024
The death toll in the wake of the Jan. 1 earthquake off Japan’s northwest coast rose above 60 as the government doubled the number of personnel dispatched to the affected areas to bolster rescue operations. The number of reported fatalities …
January 2, 2024
The death toll from a powerful earthquake that toppled buildings in the Noto Peninsula on Japan’s northwest coast rose to nearly 50 as rescue workers searched for survivors trapped under rubble. One of the places hardest hit from Monday’s magnitude-7.6 …
December 27, 2023
Japan ordered four major non-life insurance companies to improve business practices in connection with anti-competitive activity that aimed to keep premiums high, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday. The order was issued to Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, Sompo Japan …
October 13, 2023
Warren Buffett’s buying of Japanese trading firms helped propel the nation’s stocks to multi-decade highs. Six months on, insurers and banks are emerging as the next potential value targets. Insurers have low price-to-book ratios, strong fundamentals and relatively high returns, …
August 2, 2023
A price-fixing scandal at Japan’s biggest casualty insurers is escalating following a media report that the suspected collusion is likely to be wider than initially believed. Shares of Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. and Sompo Holdings …
July 26, 2023
The president of Japanese used-car dealership Bigmotor Co. Ltd. said he will step down after revelations of fraudulent insurance claims by the company’s repair shops, a scandal that has also ensnared Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. “I deeply apologize to all …