Japan’s three biggest non-life insurers sold a combined ¥1.64 trillion ($11 billion) of cross-held shares in the April-December period last year, following a push by policymakers to reduce such holdings.

That total already represented almost 90% of their initially planned equity sales worth ¥1.84 trillion in the fiscal year ending March 2025. Tokio Marine Holdings unloaded ¥781 billion of those shares during the nine-month period, while MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings sold ¥536.8 billion of stocks, and Sompo Holdings cut ¥328.5 billion of shares.

The insurers are facing pressure to improve their governance after they were fined by regulators in October last year for coordinating adjustments in insurance fees in advance for companies. Reducing overly cozy ties with other companies by selling off shares that they own in each other is one target, and the insurers have said they will cut those holdings over the next six to seven years.

"The sale of cross-shareholdings is progressing more quickly than planned, which is positive,” said Mitsushige Akino, president of Ichiyoshi Asset Management. What’s key now is whether the insurers will be able to put their funds in businesses that will help them increase profits, he said.

The companies have said they will use the proceeds from the stock sales to return profits to shareholders, as well as for mergers and acquisitions and investment in human resources. Revenue from the share sales helped all three firms boost their net income in the nine months to December.