Japan's Life Insurance Market Outlook Remains Stable - AM Best

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- Global credit rating agency, AM Best has maintained its stable outlook on Japan’s life insurance market segment, citing in part the prospects for higher premium income based on rising interest rates, according to its new report.

In a new Best’s Market Segment Report, titled “Market Segment Outlook: Japan Life Insurance,” AM Best notes an increase in sales for foreign currency-denominated savings products amid the rise in foreign interest rates, which should bolster premium income for Japan’s life insurers.

Additional factors include potentially higher domestic interest rates and expected improvement in core profits due to the decline in COVID-related benefit payments, according to AM Best in a statement.

Japan’s life insurers have posted positive top-line growth in recent years; however, their core profits were adversely affected by pandemic-related losses and higher foreign-currency hedging costs in fiscal year 2022, which ended March 31, 2023.

In view of Japan’s current operating environment and the significant drop in COVID-related claims, AM Best expects that the Japanese life insurers’ premium income will be stable for the remainder of the current fiscal year (ending March 31, 2024).

The report also notes that, despite several long-term challenges, life insurers’ operating performance will benefit from the improvement in core profits and a rise in investment income due to potentially higher domestic interest rates over the near term.

Japan’s life industry posted an increase of nearly 16 per cent in premium income, to 34.5 trillion Japanese yen (US$232.4 billion) in fiscal year (FY) 2022. The double-digit growth was also due to a low base effect from depressed new business premiums in FY2021 due to the pandemic. (US$1=RM4.72)

The rating agency expects the United States interest rates to remain at the current elevated level but Japan’s interest rates to remain at a significantly lower level.

However, the report notes that the rise in sales of foreign currency-denominated products owing to foreign interest rate movements is usually temporary in nature and cannot be sustained over the medium term.

-- BERNAMA

NX SINGAPORE MARKS 50TH ANNIVERSARY SINCE INCEPTION

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- Nippon Express (Singapore) Pte Ltd (NX Singapore) a group company of Nippon Express Holdings Inc (NXHD), celebrated its 50th anniversary to commemorate the company’s founding, on Sept 22 at Singapore.

NX Singapore President, Hiroyuki Yamazaki expressed his gratitude to the company's customers, business partners, and employees for their support heretofore, and gave a presentation on its vision and initiatives for the future.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Singapore, Hiroshi Ishikawa delivered a congratulatory address on behalf of the guests of honour, according to a statement.

The ceremony was attended by about 450 people, including guests from the Embassy of Japan in Singapore, the Singapore Economic Development Board, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry Singapore, and other relevant organisations as well as NXHD President, Mitsuru Saito from the NX Group.

As a global logistics company, NX Singapore will continue contributing to society through logistics to support the development of its customers and Singapore.

-- BERNAMA

LIVERAMP-YAHOO PARTNERSHIP SCALES ADDRESSABILITY ACROSS AD ECOSYSTEM

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- LiveRamp, the data collaboration platform, and Yahoo announced an expanded partnership to scale addressability, and enhance reach and interoperability within the advertising ecosystem.

With this partnership, publishers using LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution (ATS) will now be able to take advantage of cookieless identity solution, Yahoo ConnectID, and unlock additional addressable demand.

Furthermore, brands that leverage the Yahoo Demand Side Platforms (DSP) can achieve greater reach through Yahoo ConnectID, which benefits from RampID and the expanded scale of LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution.

LiveRamp Senior Vice President, Activations and Addressability, Travis Clinger said Yahoo is a powerful advocate for authenticated identity, and the connectivity enable across its DSP and Yahoo ConnectID will help make the post-signal world a better experience for marketers than the world of today.

“Marketers and publishers now have even more flexibility to engage, personalise, and measure their customer journey,” he said in a statement.

Publishers and marketers can benefit from this partnership without any additional configuration or resources for authenticated audiences at scale, delivering customised experiences everywhere it matters.

Publishers who have adopted LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution will be able to integrate with Yahoo ConnectID with minimal effort and better monetise their addressable supply. Hence, they should expect an increased monetisation on their authenticated inventory via Authenticated Traffic Solution as Yahoo ConnectID will now be available as an identifier.

Meanwhile, marketers looking for post-signal loss solutions will have increased reach of authenticated users across publishers that have adopted RampID and/or Yahoo ConnectID via the Yahoo DSP.

More than 450 brands already work with LiveRamp to use their first-party data to personalise consumer experiences.

-- BERNAMA

Jumio Expands AI-Powered Digital Trust Solutions Via NextWealth Partnership

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 (Bernama) -- Jumio, an automated, end-to-end identity verification, risk assessment and compliance solutions provider, has expanded its strategic partnership with NextWealth, a pure play data services provider.

With this enhanced partnership, NextWealth will provide ongoing identity verification services for Jumio, allowing the company to continue expanding upon its innovation, while for its customers, this partnership provides global support and scale with the same service levels.

According to a statement, Jumio’s market-leading, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions have reached record-breaking high automation and quality rates.

“Jumio’s mission to make the internet a safer place relies on the ongoing development of innovative fraud prevention solutions to thwart cybercriminals and their increasingly sophisticated tactics.

“Now more than ever, when our automation and quality rates have reached record levels, partnering with NextWealth enables us to focus on our core business and technology objectives and support our customers wherever they do business across the globe,” said Jumio Chief Technology Officer, Stuart Wells.

Meanwhile, NextWealth Chief Executive Officer, Mythily Ramesh said the partnership between NextWealth and Jumio will further cement its position as one of the largest pure play, AI/machine learning (ML)-driven data services players in the country.

“NextWealth’s portfolio of digital solutions and service offerings will provide Jumio international level quality, with the flexibility to manage business fluctuations in a secure business ecosystem,” added Ramesh.

NextWealth will take a lead role in providing back-office operations for Jumio and ensure seamless continuity of business.

In addition, their proven track record of hiring, developing and retaining top talent at scale, and executing with world-class quality, will allow Jumio to scale its operations securely.

-- BERNAMA

ARES MANAGEMENT KICKS OFF DIRECT LENDING FUND FOR INDIVIDUALS IN EUROPE, ASIA

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 (Bernama) -- Ares Management Corporation (Ares), a global alternative investment manager, has launched Ares European Strategic Income Fund (AESIF), a new open-ended direct lending fund that will provide individual investors in Europe and Asia with access to Ares’ European direct lending strategy.

According to Ares in a statement, AESIF will be the latest addition to the Ares Wealth Management Solutions (AWMS) platform and will be its first offering in the Europe and Asia regions.

“The expansion of our wealth product offering reflects Ares’ ongoing commitment to delivering enhanced investment solutions and client services to our rapidly growing base of global individual investors.

“With products spanning the real estate, private credit and private equity secondaries asset classes, we look forward to continuing to develop new offerings and remain committed to bringing Ares’ institutional quality private investment solutions to the wealth channel globally,” said its Partner and Global Head of Wealth Management, Raj Dhanda.

Leveraging the strength and scale of Ares’ leading global private credit platform and its extensive experience in Europe, AESIF has been designed to deliver a highly diversified portfolio comprised predominantly of directly originated, senior secured floating rate loans to performing businesses in Western Europe.

AESIF is intended to offer investors a core income-solution with meaningful downside protection and stable yields in a format that features lower investment minimums relative to traditional alternative investment products.

Ares launched its European direct lending strategy in 2007 gaining a first mover advantage in a nascent market. Since the launch of AWMS in 2021, Ares has remained focused on scaling its wealth platform to deliver private market access and education to financial advisors and their clients.

With a growing team of over 130 professionals located in offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, AWMS represents one of the most resourced wealth distribution and client service platforms in the alternatives industry.

-- BERNAMA

KROLL HIRED TO SAFEGUARD CHARGED ASSETS OF GREAT LEARNING, BPL

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Kroll Pte Limited (Kroll) announced that Cosimo Borrelli and Jason Aleksander Kardachi were appointed to safeguard the charged assets of Great Learning Education Pte Ltd (Great Learning) and Byju’s Pte Ltd (BPL).

In a statement, Kroll said the appointment was made on behalf of secured creditors of BYJU’s Alpha Inc, as part of the secured lenders’ exercise of their security rights following defaults by BYJU’s Alpha Inc.

A primary focus of the appointment is to protect and preserve the assets and businesses owned by Great Learning including its subsidiary, Northwest Education Pte Ltd (Northwest Education) and BPL.

The operations of Great Learning and Northwest Education are not impacted by the appointment and all courses and programmes offered by these businesses continue as usual.

Great Learning Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mohan Lakhamraju continued his leadership of the Great Learning business and management team.

“I am happy to see the Kroll team's commitment towards Great Learning's high quality education and continued growth and look forward to collaborating with them towards the realisation of our mission of enabling career success through transformative learning,” said Lakhamraju.

Kroll is working closely with the management of Great Learning and Northwest Education to ensure the continued delivery of high-quality learning experiences and is committed to the smooth operations and continued growth of their business.

Kroll is the world’s premier provider of services and digital products related to valuation, governance, risk and transparency.

-- BERNAMA

AM BEST BRIEFING AT SINGAPORE CONFERENCE TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS ON REINSURANCE MARKETS

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 (Bernama) -- AM Best’s Insurance Market Briefing at the Singapore International Reinsurance Conference (SIRC) to be held on Oct 31 will explore the state of the global and Asia Pacific reinsurance markets as part of the 19th annual SIRC event.

SIRC, organised by the Singapore Reinsurers’ Association, is one of the leading annual global reinsurance industry events.

According to a statement, themed “(Re)Insurance Reset”, this year’s event runs from Oct 30 to Nov 2.

Meanwhile, the market briefing will take place in the Heliconia Ballroom at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, the same location as the overall conference.

During the briefing, senior analytical leaders from AM Best’s international offices will provide (re)insurance market insight, with discussion topics including a global market update of reinsurance developments and reviews of Northeast and Southeast Asia reinsurance markets.

In addition, National Scale Ratings, which AM Best recently introduced to Egypt, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, will be discussed.

The National Scale Rating is a relative measure of the financial strength of insurers and reinsurers that are domiciled in the same country, and over time allow for greater differentiation among them.

The panel will be chaired by AM Best’s Singapore operations chief executive officer, Rob Curtis and other panellists for the market briefing include directors from the global credit rating agency.

AM Best is a contributing broadcast partner to the event, and AM BestTV will provide coverage of the conference.

-- BERNAMA