Leadership
As Managing Executive Officer and Head of Americas / Europe of Nippon Life Insurance Company, Mr. Yao oversees business operations on those continents. He most recently worked as Executive Officer and Regional CEO for Asia Pacific of Nippon Life and Chairman of Nippon Life Asia Pacific (Regional HQ) Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.
Since joining Nippon Life in 1995, Mr. Yao has held various senior leadership positions including General Manager of the Global Insurance Business Department and the Global Business Planning Department. These past positions provided him with extensive experience in international M&A.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from Kyoto University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
As President and CEO, Mr. Kurisu oversees the investments and operations of NLGIA. Since joining Nippon Life Insurance Company in 1999, he has held numerous senior leadership positions across various investment strategies, including alternative investments, interest rates, FX, tactical asset allocation, and responsible investment. Most recently, he served as Head of Foreign Equity & Alternative Investment at Nissay Asset Management Corporation.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Tokyo and is both a CFA Charterholder and a Chartered Member of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan (CMA).
Fixed Income Team
Our Fixed Income team invests primarily in US investment-grade corporate bonds and CMBS.
We use a bottom-up investment approach from the long-term perspective.
Communication plays a key role in our investment philosophy. The team’s portfolio managers have faith in our analysts to provide responsible recommendations. Our analysts become deeply familiar with their assigned sub-sectors by conducting multifaceted qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the company fundamentals. Their recommendations are further refined by conducting regular investment meetings and engaging in day-to-day communication under a free and open culture.
Through these efforts to improve investment performance, our AUM has been growing.
Equity Team
Our Equity team actively manages long-only US equity portfolios.
Our main alpha source is bottom-up analysis. We use a sophisticated bottom-up research framework to evaluate the long-term growth of companies including a proprietary sustainability evaluation. The team is highly collaborative. We deepen our investment theses through comprehensive discussions and dialogue between team members and our investments. We also closely monitor market opportunity and risk to adjust our portfolio.
Our experienced investment professionals have diverse backgrounds. Our sector analysts have a great deal of ownership and discretion in investment decisions under very experienced portfolio managers. This enables us to enhance investment expertise.
As a member of Nippon Life Group, we also have a global perspective leveraging our research teams in Tokyo, London, and Singapore.
Private Equity Team
Our Private Equity team aims to maximize financial returns by partnering with top-tier private equity firms. We invest in differentiated strategies through our bottom-up approach to evaluating investment opportunities.
With our long-standing history of Private Equity Fund investments over 20 years, we are known as one of the most well-respected Asian LPs in the industry, having built many strong and enduring relationships with leading GPs.
At the core of our strength lies our ability to construct well-diversified globally portfolio through NLGIA’s local sourcing network and collaboration with our international investment teams based in London and Tokyo.
Private Debt Team
Our Private Debt team manages funds of funds focused on private credit strategies across the U.S., Europe, and global markets, navigating evolving market environments with a disciplined approach to portfolio construction.
The team seeks to pursue stable income generation over the medium to long term while managing downside risk. To support this objective, we conduct rigorous research and thorough due diligence, enabling careful evaluation of managers and investment strategies selected through our funds of funds.
Our team takes a broad market perspective, investing in managers that provide flexible capital solutions across senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, and subordinated debt.
Real Asset Team
Our Real Asset team invests mainly in real estate and infrastructure funds in the US and Europe, seeking to achieve stable risk-adjusted returns over the long term.
Through our careful and strategic construction of diversified portfolios, we strive to make resilient investments able to withstand market cycles.
We have experienced investment managers who seek best-in-class investments through active monitoring of fund offerings, frequent dialogue with market participants, and an in-depth due diligence process.
The Real Asset team’s European investment capabilities are further enhanced by members based in London.
