The unrealized losses on bonds held by Japanese life insurance giant Nippon Life Insurance have risen to approximately 3.6 trillion yen

According to Bloomberg terminal, Nippon Life Insurance Co., the largest life insurance company in Japan, has more than tripled the unrealized loss of its domestic bond holdings in the fiscal year ending in March this year, reaching about 3.6 trillion yen (about 25 billion dollars), mainly because the yield of Japanese treasury bond soared under the pressure of interest rate rise, driving up the downside risk of bond prices. The company said that its debt portfolio is mainly composed of 30-year Japanese treasury bond. Due to intensified market selling pressure, the yield reached a record high. According to Nippon Life, the actual loss caused by selling government bonds last year also reached 500 billion yen. Arthur Hayes commented that under legal restrictions, life insurance institutions can only primarily hold government bonds. If even they start reducing their holdings, it will seriously impact the bond market or prompt the Bank of Japan to further strengthen monetary easing operations.