# MetLife Japan

MetLife Japan is an Insurance based in Tokyo, Japan.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Insurance
- **Headquarters:** Tokyo, Japan
- **Region:** Asia
- **Address:** Tokyo, Japan
- **Founded:** 1972
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** metlife.co.jp
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/metlife-japan

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

MetLife Japan began underwriting life and medical policies in 1972 as a branch of the U.S. parent, MetLife, Inc., and converted to a Japan-domiciled stock company in 2012 — first as MetLife Alico Life, then adopting the current name in July 2014. The entity traces its distribution heritage partly through the legacy American Life Insurance Company (Alico) Japan branch and a enduring strategic partnership with Japan Post Insurance, which places products through the country's vast post-office network. The general-account portfolio balances yen-denominated fixed income with a multi-decade direct real-estate allocation concentrated in Tokyo and Osaka. Assets include the MetLife Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho tower in Chiyoda-ku, the Olinas Tower in Kinshicho, the MetLife Kabutocho Building in central Tokyo, the MetLife Honmachi Building in Osaka, and the Nagasaki Building. Beyond brick-and-mortar, the strategy reaches into alternatives — hedge funds, private credit, and secondaries — to source additional yield for policyholder obligations. The firm also owns the Ecora Forest asset, a timberland investment that provides inflation-hedging and duration ballast. The asset-owner function operates from Tokyo with CEO Dirk Ostijn, whose continental European background ties the firm to the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Japan, while corporate sustaining membership in the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and industry participation through the Life Insurance Association of Japan anchor it locally. The MetLife Foundation extends the office's footprint into community programs, including the 'Better Life Better Place' care-facility initiative with The Nippon Foundation. No team headcount or aggregate AUM is publicly disclosed. The structural differentiator is distance from the parent's New York ALM stack: MetLife Japan runs its own general-account investment committee under local regulatory capital rules, which lets it shape a yen-denominated portfolio with a distinctly Japanese real-estate bias and a wider alternatives sleeve than a typical overseas branch would control.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Hedge Funds
- Private Credit
- Secondaries & Special Situations

## People

- Dirk Ostijn — President, CEO, and Representative Statutory Executive Officer

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at MetLife Japan?

Dirk Ostijn, the President and CEO, exercises ultimate oversight of the firm's investment activities in Japan. The general-account portfolio operates through a local investment committee, distinct from the parent company's asset-liability management structure in New York. Detailed disclosures on named CIOs or investment heads are currently limited in public materials.

### Which sectors and asset classes are core to MetLife Japan's investment portfolio?

The general account is anchored in Japanese fixed income with enhanced return targets met through four recognized channels: direct commercial real estate, hedge funds, private credit, and secondaries and special situations. The real-estate strategy concentrates on office and hospitality property in primary Japanese markets, with additional exposure via the Ecora Forest timberland holding.

### How is MetLife Japan related to MetLife, Inc.?

MetLife Japan is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of MetLife, Inc., the New York-based global insurance group. The Japan unit operates under its own local statutory capital regime, board, and investment authority, a structure that became fully operational after the Alico Japan branch transfer in 2012 and the subsequent rebranding to MetLife Life Insurance K.K. in July 2014.

## Related profiles

- [Metistone Equity Partners](https://altss.com/profile/metistone-equity-partners)
- [MetLife Korea](https://altss.com/profile/metlife-korea)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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