Major Japanese insurers Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, Aioi Insurance and Nissay Dowa General Insurance are in the final stages of negotiating a merger that will make their combined entity Japan’s largest non-life insurer.

Tokyo newspaper Asahi Shimbun says the merger is expected to be announced by March. The merger talks are focused mainly on streamlining operations “and other measures needed for survival as the non-life insurance industry in Japan takes a hit from all sides”.
 
Sumitomo is the country’s second-largest insurer behind Tokio Marine. The non-life market has been sagging behind its global peers for several years, ground down at home by stagnant investment returns and the vagaries of a market dominated by such issues as an ageing population and a falling birthrate.

According to the General Insurance Association of Japan, the combined pre-tax profits of 26 member companies fell 57.3% last year.