DAI-ICHI LIFE PLANNING US EXPANSION

Japanese assurer Dai-ichi Life is planning to expand into the US life market, company president Koichiro Watanabe has said. He noted that Dai-ichi had already converted a US asset investment company into an affiliate and said in an interview on Thursday reported in the Japan Times that "in the future, the insurance underwriting market will come into sight as our target". Dai-ichi is currently in talks with Indonesia's Panin Life, with a view to acquiring a 40% stake for about ¥30bn ($299m).