By Daiki Kawasaki
Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. intends to double its planned purchase of Japanese government bonds to about 2 trillion yen this fiscal year, a company executive told The Yomiuri Shimbun.
JGBs are the core of the company's portfolio. In the wake of rising long-term interest rates, the company aims to improve investment efficiency by accelerating the replacement of low-yield bonds purchased in the past, said Yoshimasa Osaki, a managing executive officer and head of asset management business. Other Japanese insurance companies are also replacing such bonds.
"With long-term interest rates rising as much as they are now, this is an excellent opportunity to adjust the composition of our yen-denominated bond portfolio," Osaki said.
Long-term interest rates have been rising in Japan due to factors such as inflation and interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan. In May, the benchmark yield on newly issued 10-year JGBs temporarily rose to 2.8% on the Tokyo bond market, a level not seen in about 29 and a half years.
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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.
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