Aflac Keeps Eye on Japan Market As Others Turn Overseas for Growth

TOKYO-U.S. insurance giant Aflac is seeking to win over more younger customers to bolster its business in Japan, betting that the country will remain its largest market in the near future despite an aging population and the challenge of rising interest rates.

- MEGUMI FUJIKAWA

Chief Executive Daniel P. Amos said in an interview that addressing youth demand in Japan will be key to adapting to tough demographics and a new higher-rate environment.

“You’ve got a lower birth rate and you’ve got an aging policyholder base or population,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “And so developing new products that’ll bring on the young people and also products that’ll take care of them when they are old is what’s important.”

Aflac sells supplemental health and life insurance in Japan and the U.S. About 60% of its revenue comes from Japan, where it has operated for five decades and insures roughly 14 million people.

The company’s strategy in Japan contrasts with the approach of many local insurers looking abroad for growth via acquisitions or alliances. Nippon Life Insurance—Japan’s largest life insurance provider—recently announced the acquisition of American insurer Resolution Life Group for $8.2 billion.