Japan Post Insurance makes $2bn investment into Global Atlantic reinsurance sidecar

Japan Post Insurance has now agreed its planned $2 billion investment into a new reinsurance co-investment vehicle, or sidecar, to gain access to the strategic returns from business activity of KKR’s U.S. life, retirement and annuities insurance and reinsurance company, Global Atlantic Financial Group.

Earlier this year we reported that Japan Post Insurance was considering making an investment of as much as $2 billion into a new reinsurance sidecar-like co-investment vehicle to be sponsored by Global Atlantic.

This morning the investment has been confirmed, with Japan Post Insurance investing the maximum $2 billion into the structure, as it looks to diversify its own sources of insurance-linked returns through access to the KKR owned life specialists underwriting.

Japan Post Insurance confirmed that it has now signed the investment agreement with KKR and Global Atlantic, to invest $2 billion (approximately JPY 300 billion) into the new reinsurance sidecar-like vehicle to be sponsored by Global Atlantic.

The vehicle is expected to have access to Global Atlantic’s insurance, reinsurance and strategic activity, and to begin its operations in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.

The partnership between the parties had first been announced back in 2023, pitched as a way for Japan Post Insurance to accelerate its global growth strategy and diversify its business portfolio into overseas markets.

We still assume that the vehicle in question will be either a vintage of the already established Global Atlantic life and annuities reinsurance sidecar structure Ivy Re, or a similar vehicle of another name.

Global Atlantic established the Ivy Re reinsurance co-investment and sidecar-like structure in Bermuda in 2020, since when it has used this as a vehicle for channelling supportive third-party capital to a number of its major life reinsurance deals.

This new $2 billion investment, which will be made over time into the new co-investment reinsurance sidecar-like vehicle, solidifies the partnership between Japan Post Insurance, KKR and Global Atlantic, while also providing meaningful third-party capital firepower for Global Atlantic’s life and annuity related reinsurance deals.

Kunio Tanigaki, Director and Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO of Japan Post Insurance, commented, “This investment is a part of our phased approach to our strategic alliance agreement with KKR and Global Atlantic, which we signed in June 2023 with the aim of expanding into new areas of collaboration. In the two years that have passed since establishing this alliance, we have deepened our mutual understanding and come to appreciate the significant presence of KKR and Global Atlantic in the U.S. market, and are pleased to invest in this new vehicle sponsored by Global Atlantic. We believe that this investment will enable Japan Post Insurance to diversify our revenue sources by capturing revenues from the robust U.S. annuity market and reinsurance markets globally and continue to build on our win-win relationship with KKR and Global Atlantic.”

Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall, Co-CEOs of KKR, said, “We are proud to deepen our relationship with Japan Post Insurance, one of Japan’s leading insurance institutions, through their investment in Global Atlantic’s vehicle. This collaboration reflects the strength of our global insurance platform and our shared commitment to growth as we pursue the opportunity together.”

“We are delighted to expand our strategic partnership with Japan Post Insurance and pursue new opportunities for growth and collaboration,” added Billy Butcher and Manu Sareen, Co-Heads of Global Atlantic. “Japan Post Insurance’s commitment to deploy capital alongside Global Atlantic validates the growing value of our global platform. The investment will accelerate our ability to pursue growth opportunities we see in the U.S., Japan, and other international markets, and support the needs of our clients, policyholders and partners.”

It’s a further example of how third-party investor capital is becoming increasingly significant in the life and annuity reinsurance space, through the use of sidecars and co-investment structures, with major players leveraging the appetite of third-party investors to participate in their businesses through efficient vehicles.

Find details of numerous reinsurance sidecar investments and transactions, including life reinsurance sidecar structures, in our directory of collateralized reinsurance sidecar transactions.