Nao Sano

Japan will relax rules on bank lending for M&A and encourage pension funds to invest more in alternative assets as part of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s economic growth initiatives.

The pension fund, one of the world’s biggest, is putting ¥20 billion into a 10-year fund run by Japanese private quity firm Advantage Partners.

Daiwa Asset Management Co. is planning to double its sales staff targeting institutional investors to about 20 people, its president said.

“We want to expand our team by bringing in experts who can hit the ground running — we won't hesitate in hiring,” Sano said in an interview. The company will seek new clients including those from public and corporate pension funds, as well as endowments and foundations of universities, he said.

Allianz SE agreed to buy HSBC Holdings Plc's Singapore insurance unit for S$2.7 billion ($2.1 billion), marking a substantial expansion less than two years after another deal in the city-state fell apart.

Allianz SE agreed to buy HSBC Holdings plc's Singapore insurance unit for $2.7 billion as the German insurer expands its presence in the Asian financial hub after a previously aborted attempt.

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund will manage its assets solely in the long-term interest of its beneficiaries, its leader said Monday, an apparent pushback at suggestions from the prime minister and members of her cabinet that GPIF increase investments in domestic assets.

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund hired active domestic bond funds for the first time in five years, a recognition that one of the world’s biggest retirement money managers needs to increase its expertise to deal with volatility in the nation’s debt market.

The move shows the fund’s need to increase its expertise in order to deal with volatility in the nation’s debt market.

Daiichi Life Group has been approaching dozens of companies that have never issued bonds or only rarely done so, proposing that it will become a core buyer if they tap the market.