Bloomberg – Sumitomo Life Insurance Co., Japan’s fourth-largest life insurer, plans to increase investments in hedge funds to beat returns on domestic bonds, said Nobuki Yasuda, a manager ofalternative assets at the company.<\/p>\n
“Returns from hedge funds at around 5 percent are relatively high compared with Japanese yields,” Yasuda said today at a hedge fund conference in Tokyo. “We’re very happy with the returns.”<\/p>\n
The insurer will increase investments in hedge funds “slightly,” Yasuda said, declining to give a figure.<\/p>\n
Sumitomo Life said in October that its domestic debt holdings will be unchanged in the second half of the fiscal year ending March 31 from the first half. It held 6.3 trillion yen ($55 billion) in Japanese bonds, or 31 percent of its 20.1 trillion yen in total assets, as of March 31, according its earnings statement.<\/p>\n