Japan Post ramps up investment

Japan Post Insurance is ramping up its investment in Japanese stocks and foreign bonds in a move that shows the government-controlled insurer is betting on the success of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies in pursuit of higher returns, according to a Reuters report.

The country's largest insurer, which has the equivalent of USD846 billion in assets, is increasing its investment in Japanese stocks by an estimated USD3.5 billion, in the fiscal year that began in April, a rise of more than 50 percent from last year, according to sources.

Japan Post Insurance, known as Kampo, has also earmarked the equivalent of USD6.4 billion for new investment in overseas bonds, also up by more than 50 percent, according to a plan vetted and released by a government oversight panel for the insurer in March. That investment plan did not specify an allocation target for equities.

The move reflects the view that Abe's economic policies, dubbed 'Abenomics', including a continued programme of aggressive bond buying by the Bank of Japan, have brought Japan's capital markets to a tipping point and forced Japan's largest investors to take more risk to seek higher returns.