KKR secures partnership with Japan Post Insurance
Japan Post Insurance (JPI) has launched a strategic partnership with KKR and the private equity firm’s insurance subsidiary Global Atlantic Financial Group. The deal will give JPI access to a broader range of investments and support its diversification efforts.
Concurrent with the partnership announcement, JPI made a commitment to a reinsurance co-investment vehicle sponsored by Global Atlantic. A statement claimed that KKR and Global Atlantic’s customised solutions for global life and annuity insurance clients are well-suited to JPI’s growth strategy. In addition to enhancing growth, the insurer also wants greater exposure to overseas markets.
Multi-strategy global investment firms are increasingly looking to secure strategic partnerships with Japanese institutional investors. These are intended to address the latter’s desire for increased exposure to certain asset classes while bypassing the traditional Japanese private equity fundraising regime, which is characterised by gatekeeper relationships and relatively small equity cheques.
Last year, Apollo Global Management signed up Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings to an alternatives co-investment programme. Sumitomo Mitsui and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank agreed to invest USD 1.5bn alongside Apollo and Athene, Apollo’s insurance affiliate, in a portfolio of diversified alternative assets. At the time, the programme had put USD 15bn to work, including contributions from Apollo and Athene.
KKR acquired Global Atlantic in 2021, absorbing around USD 90bn in assets under management. Global Atlantic is used to deliver asset management and reinsurance solutions to insurance clients. KKR has approximately USD 510bn in assets under management. As of January, its insurance assets amounted to USD 188bn, of which Global Atlantic accounted for USD 132bn.
JPI is a listed subsidiary of Japan Post Group. As of March, 71.2% of its JPY 62.7trn (USD 448bn) of assets were in bonds, principally Japanese government bonds. Alternatives exposure was just 2.1%.
“We believe this partnership has great potential for Japan Post Insurance to pursue new growth opportunities and diversify revenue sources,” said Tetsuya Senda, JPI’s director, president, and CEO.
“It also enhances our reinsurance strategy and asset-liability management capabilities and we will proceed in a gradual and prudent manner as this is the first international partnership for Japan Post Insurance, which currently does not have any overseas offices.”
More on North Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.