Dai-ichi Life Holdings and Marubeni are launching a ¥400 billion ($2.77 billion) real estate investment fund targeting Japanese pension funds, betting they can attract institutional money from investors that have historically allocated less to property than their global peers.
The life insurer and trading house established their 50-50 joint venture Tuesday, consolidating seven real estate units under the new entity Dai-ichi Life Marubeni Real Estate. The move represents the culmination of partnership discussions that began with a memorandum of understanding signed in June 2024.
The combined entity will manage ¥1.7 trillion in assets, positioning it among Japan’s largest real estate investment managers. The companies are targeting pension funds that have remained relatively conservative in property investments compared to international counterparts.
Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, the world’s largest with ¥258 trillion in assets, maintains a 5% ceiling on alternative investments including real estate. This constraint has created an opportunity gap that the new venture aims to exploit.
The timing coincides with renewed interest in Japanese property markets. Land prices across Japan increased 2.7% in 2024, the fastest pace since 1991, as the country emerges from decades of deflation. However, domestic institutional appetite for real estate remains notably restrained compared to overseas pension systems that typically allocate higher percentages to property investments.
