Business volumes of Japan's six largest life insurers continued to shrink in the financial year that ended March 31 due to intensifying competition with U.S. rivals and the still feeble economy, according to earnings reports released Monday.
The combined outstanding balance of contracts at all six firms -- Nippon Life Insurance Co., Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co., Sumitomo Life Insurance Co., Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co., Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Mitsui Mutual Life Insurance Co. -- were down for the eighth consecutive year to 896.6 trillion yen. The figure was down 4.9 percent from a year earlier.
Meiji Yasuda Life marked a 5.7 percent decline after the Financial Services Agency ordered the insurer to suspend part of its policy sales operations for two weeks in February due to illegal and fraudulent practices.