Top 15 life insurance executives: Johan Sidik, Keisuke Kawasaki

AsianInvestor’s Top 15 Life Insurance Executives in Asia list highlights the individuals who stand out in driving the industry forward via steady investment processes, robust operations, sustainability measures, as well as advocacy for best practices and transparency.

The life insurance sector in the region has been growing rapidly, helped by a population of over four billion and rapidly growing economic clout.

Despite the immense potential, there are also challenges such as wide-ranging regulatory changes, slowing growth in life premiums in recent years and increasing demands for actions around sustainability and climate change, among others.

We believe it is important to recognise and credit the standout individuals who are making a difference and setting positive trends in such an important sector.

Read more about the rationale for our Top 15 list.

Today, we profile two senior executives, one based in Indonesia and another in Japan.

Muhamad Umar Johan Sidik
Chief Investment Officer, PT Asuransi Jiwa Sequis Life

As one of Indonesia’s longest-operating life insurers in existence for 40 years, PT Asuransi Jiwa Sequis Life has acquired a reputation for steady growth.

Over the years, the Indonesian firm has grown organically and via acquisitions, acquiring the country businesses of MetLife and New York Life over the past few decades.

Helming the investments of the onshore and offshore assets of the life insurer is Chief Investment Officer Muhamad Umar Johan Sidiq.

Industry insiders told AsianInvestor that Sidik, who joined Sequis Life in 2018, is a highly thoughtful executive, with seasoned expertise in managing investments across a carefully constructed mix of investment options.

Sequis Life's asset allocation, like all insurers, is heavily tilted towards fixed income -- 72% of the total investment portfolio – while equities account for another 22%.

With the US Federal Reserve now on course to cut interest rates further, the insurer will focus on boosting returns with investment-grade or high-yield yet highly rated corporate bonds, Sidik told AsianInvestor at the Insurance Investment Briefing in Singapore in September.

Equities will also benefit, he said, not just in the US but also in select emerging markets, particularly ASEAN.

Sidik, who is based in Jakarta, is transparent in detailing the asset allocation strategy of the life insurer.

His advice on building a robust asset allocation plan: understand the regulatory framework and have a plan that includes a healthy dose of risk mitigation.

“As long-term investors, insurers should stick to ALM [asset-liability management], SAA [strategic asset allocation] and TAA [tactical asset allocation] in a disciplined investment process,” he told AsianInvestor.

The executive noted that insurers typically use three techniques to optimise investment strategy.

The first technique is diversification – to enable harvesting risk premia across and within asset classes with the lowest possible amount of risk.

“You need to strategically construct well diversified 'performance-seeking portfolios' (SAA diversification), which mitigates idiosyncratic risk.”

The second technique is hedging, to help immunise a portfolio against certain risk factors.

“You need a 'hedging portfolio', such as liability-hedging portfolios in asset-liability management (ALM), and goal-hedging portfolios in goal-based investing (cash flow and duration matching), which mitigates the systematic risk factors,” he said.

Finally, investors need ‘insurance’, to ensure the protection of a minimum amount of wealth relative to a benchmark.

This requires having a dynamic allocation, tactically rebalancing between the first and the second techniques as market conditions change from time to time, he added.

While the Sequis group has an asset management arm, Sidik said it does not manage a majority of the insurer’s assets as the insurer works with a number of partners to keep the portfolio well diversified for both traditional fund and investment-linked funds.

Diversification with each asset management partner (related or non-related) is subject to regulatory limits, the kind of strategies that complement the portfolio, and specific allocation ratios that can optimise portfolio returns, he told AsianInvestor.

“We oversee and evaluate each fund manager’s people-process-performance on a regular basis to look over whether the ongoing allocation is still relevant or not.”

Sidik’s measured approach to help Sequis Life achieve resilient and balanced returns with manageable risk is why AsianInvestor believes he earns a well-deserved spot on this list.

Keisuke Kawasaki
Chief Investment Officer, Nippon Life Insurance

Keisuke Kawasaki, who leads Nippon Life Insurance's $566 billion investment portfolio, brings solid equity expertise to Japan's largest life insurer at a pivotal moment as the country emerges from its long-standing negative interest rate era.

"Since he took on the CIO position, there has been a positive chemistry in the investment department and all the members have been revitalised," Takeshi Kimura, special advisor to the board at Nippon Life, told AsianInvestor.

Kawasaki used to be CIO at Nissay Asset Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Life, and also had an earlier stint in the equity department at Nippon Life.

In addition, Kawasaki's leadership experience includes heading corporate planning at one of Nippon Life's asset management subsidiaries and serving as CEO of two overseas asset management operations, contributing to the firm's global expansion.

The firm's investment approach is distinguished by its in-house capabilities, supported by four local asset management subsidiaries in Tokyo, New York, London, and Singapore, alongside strategic partnerships with Nippon Life India Asset Management and TCW Group.

Recent market shifts have led to strategic portfolio adjustments, particularly in response to global inflation and changing currency hedging costs.

"We've dramatically decreased hedged foreign bond investment while continuing to increase alternative investments such as private equity, infrastructure and private debt," Kimura told AsianInvestor.

"We see it as our mission to simultaneously fulfill our responsibilities to both policyholders and society, aiming to both pursue returns and create sustainable outcomes."

Kawasaki has also strengthened the firm's commitment to responsible investment, implementing an advanced approach that balances investment returns with sustainable outcomes. 

Nippon Life continues to leverage its strong brand recognition and stringent risk management framework, developed through decades of analysing life insurance risk, while maintaining its focus on creating value for both policyholders and society.

Tomorrow, we profile senior executives from Korea and Malaysia.