TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - Japan Post Insurance will invest $3.2 billion more in regional and corporate bonds this financial year than last and plans to pick up domestic stocks to win higher returns, a senior company official said on Thursday.
State-owned Japan Post's insurance arm, which holds 98.9 trillion yen ($1.06 trillion) in assets, has been cutting its holdings of Japanese stocks in recent years.
These holdings only account for 0.2 percent of its portfolio, totalling 171.4 billion yen in February, down from 409.1 billion yen at the end of March 2009.
"We'll be closely watching market conditions and will look for an appropriate time to buy domestic stocks this financial year," Mitsuya Watanabe, general manager at the insurer's investment planning section, told Reuters in an interview.
Watanabe declined to comment on the amount of stocks it may buy.
The insurer's investment plans overall will rise by 300 billion yen to 7.1 trillion yen in the financial year that began in April from last year, Watanabe said.
Of that, 5.8 trillion yen will go into Japanese government bonds (JGBs) in 2010/11, unchanged from last year, while the insurer is raising its investment in municipal and corporate bonds by 300 billion yen to win higher returns, he said.
A steady safe-haven inflow of funds has kept 20-year JGB yields just above 2 percent for the past half-decade.
Japan Post Insurance also plans to raise its exposure to foreign bonds by 50 billion yen or more this year after cutting its holdings in the past year, Watanabe said.
"We'll take more exposure in foreign bonds this year. We may consider increasing the amount depending on the market condition," Watanabe said.
The insurer held 667.7 billion yen in foreign securities, accounting for about 0.7 percent of its portfolio. At the end of March 2009, it held 883.4 billion yen in foreign securities. ($1=93.24 yen) (Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)