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* Taiyo Life bought Y200 bln in hedged foreign bonds in H1
* Such buying due to higher overseas yields, low hedge cost
* Taiyo's yen bond holdings fell by Y200 bln in H1
* To keep yen bonds, foreign bonds, equities steady in H2
* Not planning to increase foreign currency exposure in H2
By Masayuki Kitano and Takaya Yamaguchi
TOKYO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Taiyo Life Insurance Co said on Monday it increased its holdings of currency-hedged foreign bonds by 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion) in the April-September period due to higher overseas bond yields and low hedging costs.
Japan's top nine life insurers held around $1.6 trillion in assets as of March 2009 -- about the size of Brazil's economy -- and investors closely watch their plans because their investments can affect financial markets.
Yen bond holdings at Taiyo, Japan's sixth-largest life insurer by assets, fell by 200 billion yen in the first half of this financial year.
The insurer plans to keep its holdings of yen bonds and foreign bonds, as well as domestic and foreign equities steady in the second half, and will be careful about taking risks.
"We will continue to take a cautious stance overall towards risk assets such as stocks and alternative assets in the second half," Yoshihisa Tanaka, general manager of Taiyo's investment planning division, told Reuters in an interview.
Taiyo kept its domestic equity holdings steady in the first half, although the mark-to-market value of its equity holdings rose due to gains in share prices. It also kept its foreign equity holdings broadly unchanged.
The insurer had slashed its domestic equity holdings by half in the previous financial year that ended in March this year, and foreign equity holdings by 80 percent to 90 percent, Tanaka said.
Taiyo sees the dollar trading between 80 yen and 105 yen in the October-March second half, and standing at 95 yen at the end of March. It expects the euro to trade between 125 yen and 145 yen, and to be at 135 yen in late March.
NOT EYEING MORE FX RISK
The insurer's foreign currency exposure was broadly steady compared to the end of March this year, at roughly 2.6 percent of its overall assets of about 5.7 trillion yen that it manages on behalf of policyholders, Tanaka said.
"Heading towards the second half, we are not thinking of expanding our foreign currency exposure," he said. "At a time when hedging costs are low, we are not contemplating taking on large foreign exchange risks."
The low cost of hedging against foreign exchange fluctuations is one reason why the insurer's holdings of hedged foreign bonds rose in the first half while its yen bond holdings fell.
Its holdings of foreign bonds rose to 800 billion yen from around 570 billion yen to 580 billion yen at the end of March this year, while its holdings of yen-denominated bonds fell to around 2.4 trillion yen from 2.6 trillion yen.
"The reasons for the shift are the differences between domestic and overseas long-term interest rates, along with narrower short-term interest rate differentials, which have made hedging costs extremely cheap," Tanaka said.
Taiyo Life sees the 10-year Japanese government bond yield moving between 1.1 percent and 1.6 percent in the October-March period and standing at 1.35 percent at the end of March.
The insurer expects the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield to move between 2.5 percent and 4.5 percent in the second half and to stand at 3.5 percent at the end of March.
Taiyo Life is sticking with its plans to lengthen the duration of its yen bond portfolio if bond yields rise, but is not considering doing so at current yield levels, Tanaka said.
The duration of Taiyo Life's yen bond holdings now stands at roughly 10 years.
"It would be ideal if the 20-year yield were to rise above 2.5 percent," he said.
The 20-year JGB yield stood at 2.145 percent on Monday, hovering near a two-month high of 2.150 percent hit last week.
Taiyo Life sees Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average moving between 8,000 and 12,000 in the second half and standing at 10,000 at the end of March. (Editing by Chris Gallagher)