Pacific Life Re has entered its third asset-intensive block reinsurance transaction with Tokio Marine & Nichido Anshin Life Insurance Co. Ltd. The deal covers in-force whole of life policies and designed to reduce Anshin Life’s long-term interest rate risk and strengthen its asset-liability management capabilities.
The transaction follows two prior deals completed in 2024 and 2025. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.
Rupen Shah, managing director for Asia Pacific at Pacific Life Re, said the third block transaction reinforces a long-standing partnership.
“Delivering these solutions in Japan underscores our long-term commitment to the market and remains a key part of our core business strategy,” he said.
Shah added that the transfer of Anshin Life’s risk to Pacific Life Re allows the Japanese insurer to more efficiently manage and optimize its product portfolio. The goal, Shah said, is “helping to achieve broader business objectives.”
The deal lands in a Japan reinsurance market that has expanded sharply. Industry estimates put asset-intensive block life reinsurance from Japanese cedants at US$20 billion to US$30 billion in 2024.
Only 1% of Japan’s roughly $3 trillion in life in-force reserves is currently ceded via asset-intensive structures. Up to 30% is seen as addressable. This points to US$150 billion to US$300 billion of potential transactions over the next five years.
A key regulatory shift is driving much of that activity. Japan’s new economic value-based solvency regime, known as J-ICS, took effect on March 31, 2026. It calibrates capital to a 1-in-200-year stress level.
The framework bites hardest on insurers holding older long-dated guarantees written when interest rates were higher. This makes offshore block reinsurance a capital-efficiency tool rather than purely a risk transfer mechanism.
Pacific Life Re is not the only reinsurer moving quickly in this space. Japan Post Insurance signed two separate block reinsurance deals effective March 31, 2026, with Aflac Re Bermuda and Talcott Life Re.
Resolution Life also closed three Asia transactions in the same period. One of those included a deal with Tokio Marine’s Anshin Life subsidiary completed in June 2025. The volume of activity underlines how competitive the Japan market has become.
The Anshin Life transaction follows a separate milestone for Pacific Life Re in Europe. In March 2026, the reinsurer completed a €4 billion (US$4.63 billion) longevity reinsurance transaction with Achmea Pension & Life Insurance in the Netherlands.
Pacific Life Re was awarded half of the total €8 billion (US$9.2 billion) in pension liabilities transferred as part of Achmea’s two reinsurance transactions. Achmea announced a concurrent deal with Munich Re as part of the same structure.
