Japan life insurers dumping foreign bonds

Japan's finance ministry building stands in Tokyo. Life insurers offloaded a net 1.9 trillion yen (RM62bil) of overseas debt in November, an all-time high, according to preliminary portfolio flow data from the finance ministry. — Bloomberg

TOKYO: Stung by crippling hedging costs and tempted by higher yields at home, Japan’s life insurers are bailing out of foreign bonds at a record pace.

The cohort offloaded a net 1.9 trillion yen (RM62bil) of overseas debt in November, an all-time high, according to preliminary portfolio flow data from Japan’s Finance Ministry yesterday. Separate balance-of-payments data for October showed Japanese investors overall were net sellers of US, French and German debt.