NEWS RELEASE. R&I Affirms Ratings: 4 Major Life Insurance Groups R&I Changes Outlook to Positive: Dai-ichi Life Group, Sumitomo Life Group

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1 May 18, 2018 R&I Affirms Ratings: 4 Major Life Insurance Groups R&I Changes Outlook to Positive: Dai-ichi Life Group, Sumitomo Life Group Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I) has announced the following: COMPANY NAME Nippon Life Insurance Co. Mitsui Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co., Ltd. The Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Medicare Life Insurance Co., Ltd. * Please refer below for rated bonds, etc. RATIONALE: Following its rating reviews for Japan's four major life insurance groups listed above, R&I has affirmed the ratings for all of the insurers. For The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co., Ltd. and The Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance Co., Ltd. owned by Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc., and Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. and its subsidiary Medicare Life Insurance Co., Ltd., R&I has changed the Rating Outlooks to Positive, reflecting improvements in the respective earning capacity and risk resilience of the entire groups. The risk profiles of the major life insurance groups have high investment risk such as asset-liability management (ALM) risk and equity risk. Their risk resilience therefore changes easily with fluctuations in stock prices and interest rates. After the Bank of Japan introduced a negative interest rate policy in February 2016, their economic value-based risk resilience deteriorated considerably. Since September 2016, long-term rates have somewhat risen on the back of yield curve control, among others, and the risk resilience has recovered. Another plunge in super long-term rates has become less likely, in R&I's view. The improvement in the risk resilience is also attributable to each group's efforts to rein in risk, in addition to a slight upturn in the external environment. Management has formulated medium-term management plans and risk appetite frameworks on the assumption that interest rates will remain as low as the current level, and set goals measured by economic value-based financial soundness. Enterprise risk management (ERM) is increasingly used in management's decision making, though the degree of such utilization varies among the insurance groups. With a revised schedule announced regarding the implementation of the Global Insurance Capital Standard for internationally active insurance groups, it has become more likely that the Japanese regulator will also delay the introduction of their economic value-based solvency regime. Under such circumstances, strong moves to reduce ALM risk may be difficult to envision in the current low long-term interest rate environment. R&I will keep an eye on whether the improvement and stabilization of risk resilience progress through, for example, risk reduction, capital base enhancement and accumulation of high-margin new business. R&I believes that there is a good possibility that the major life insurance groups will maintain certain levels of franchise, supported by policyholders that are vast in numbers even when compared globally. Although large overseas acquisitions have been raising overseas profits, domestic life insurance operations still account for the majority of their earnings bases. Bancassurance and agency channels are expected to grow over the medium to long term, even if factors such as the impact of a shift towards reasonable commissions to fulfill fiduciary duties are taken into consideration. Meanwhile, the challenging competitive environment, coupled with shorter product life cycles in particular, has led to greater sales volatility. R&I therefore continues to emphasize sales representative channels in

2 evaluating the insurers' franchises. The pending issue of mass hiring and a high turnover of sales representatives keeps improving moderately, thanks partly to the adoption of longer training periods. As a result of focusing on after sales follow-ups, the insurers are enjoying historically low levels of surrender and lapse rates. With competition likely to intensify further, especially in the senior market, one of the few growing markets in Japan, R&I will pay attention to whether the insurers are able to increase protection-oriented policies in force. Eyes will also be on how customer needs change with the progress of digital innovation over the medium to long term. Such innovation has already given rise to insurance products designed to promote health by discounting premium rates depending on improvements in physical well-being measured by blood pressure and body-mass index, for instance. The major life insurers primarily sell protection-oriented products that generate ample mortality/morbidity margins. Furthermore, ERM considerations are driving a shift from sales of yen-denominated savings-type products to those of protection-oriented products. Annualized premiums (ANP) from highly profitable third-sector policies in force have been growing, albeit modestly, and the value of new business rose year on year. The insurers' earning capacity will likely remain consistent with their ratings, even though continued low interests are anticipated to dampen investment income. In April 2018, a revision was made to the standard mortality table, which affects the pricing of insurance products substantially. The core life insurers of the major life insurance groups have taken measures to ensure that their profitability will not change materially from the level seen prior to the revision. They aim to achieve this by stepping up efforts to offer multi-coverage protection that combines various main contracts and riders, instead of a single insurance product, through their sales representative channels. R&I believes that the revision will have only a limited impact on the economic value-based earning capacity of the major life insurance groups and does not necessitate changes in the short and medium-term evaluations of their currently high earning capacity. [Evaluations for Individual Companies] Nippon Life Insurance Co. Mitsui Life Insurance Co., Ltd. As a comprehensive insurance group, Nippon Life Insurance Co. engages in the asset management and overseas insurance businesses, in addition to the domestic life insurance business. It has the largest share of the domestic life insurance market in terms of the amount of policies in force. In FY2018 (the year ending March 2019), the insurer will make MassMutual Life Insurance Co., a bancassurance company with an advantage in the high net worth market, a subsidiary. R&I will examine whether Nippon Life Insurance is able to raise its share of the bancassurance market and thereby build a more stable earnings base. Besides ALM risk, Nippon Life Insurance's risk profile has very high equity risk compared to other domestic life insurers. Because of susceptibility to changes in the financial and capital markets, Nippon Life Insurance's risk resilience is at a level corresponding to the lower end of the AA rating category, in R&I's view. With business investment anticipated to grow in the future, R&I will observe whether the insurer is able to keep its risk resilience commensurate with the AA rating category by offsetting the investment burden by increasing the value of new business and reducing investment risk. Mitsui Life Insurance Co., Ltd., a life insurer in the Nippon Life Group, has a certain level of customer base, mainly through its sales representative channel. R&I expects the insurer to remain independent of Nippon Life Insurance for the foreseeable future, especially on the sales front. Meanwhile, Mitsui Life Insurance and Nippon Life Insurance are deepening group synergies by, for example, mutually supplying products and utilizing sales channels. Accordingly, Mitsui Life Insurance is highly important to the group strategy of Nippon Life Insurance. The rating for Mitsui Life Insurance is therefore one notch below that for Nippon Life Insurance. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. With policyholders approaching 7 million, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. ranks first in the

3 industry in terms of the amount of group life insurance in force. Although the overseas insurance business has started to make earnings contributions following the acquisition of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. of the U.S. in FY2015 (the year ended March 2016), Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance generates the majority of its earnings from the domestic life insurance business. With efforts to review the salary structure and training programs paying off, the turnover rate and productivity of its main sales representative channel are improving. R&I will keep an eye on whether the insurer is able to maintain and increase in-force ANP, particularly from third-sector products, while sustaining a rise in the number of quality sales representatives. Its risk resilience is commensurate with the rating. Given that the insurer's risk profile has high equity and ALM risks, however, the risk resilience is susceptible to changes in the financial and capital markets, which warrants attention. The focal point is on successful control of risks under an economic value-based ERM framework. The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co., Ltd. The Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance Co., Ltd. The Dai-ichi Life Group is the only major life insurance group managed by a listed holding company, which owns, among others, domestic life insurers The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co., Ltd., The Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance Co., Ltd. and The Neo First Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Compared to the other major life insurance groups, profit contributions from its overseas operations are high, suggesting more diverse earnings. The Dai-ichi Life Group can envisage growth in its adjusted profit and value of new business, which includes those from the overseas life insurance business, where business expansion has been underway. By utilizing group-wide ERM it has been aggressively working on, the group is also making efforts to control market risk based on a risk-taking policy and make capital allocation management and business/product-specific risk-return assessment more sophisticated. The likelihood of a rating upgrade will be heightened if the group is able to enhance the level and stability of risk resilience further by reducing investment risk while increasing the value of new business through these initiatives, even in the face of persistently low interest rates. Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance sells insurance products through banks and other agencies. The rating for Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance is the same as that for Dai-ichi Life Insurance, because the insurer is extremely important to the group. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Medicare Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. is one of the major life insurers in Japan, with approximately 7 million policyholders. Although it mainly made minor investments outside Japan, the overseas insurance business has started to make earnings contributions, with Symetra Financial Corp. of the U.S. becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary in FY2015 (the year ended March 2016). Medicare Life Insurance Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Life Insurance. It primarily provides third-sector products through insurance outlets and other agencies. The rating for Medicare Life Insurance is the same as that for Sumitomo Life Insurance, because the insurer is extremely important to the Sumitomo Life Group. The group has long focused on third-sector products such as nursing care and medical insurance. Compared to the other major life insurers, third-sector products account for a large proportion of its in-force ANP, and R&I assesses the group's earning capacity as strong relative to the rating. Having been engaged in economic value-based business operations from early on, the group considers embedded value (EV, a measure of enterprise value) to be a key business indicator. It expects the combined EV of Sumitomo Life Insurance and Medicare Life Insurance to expand to 4.5 trillion yen in FY2019 from 3.7 trillion yen in FY2016. Moreover, equity risk accounts for a small proportion of the group's risk profile compared to the other major life insurers, though ALM risk remains large. The likelihood of a rating upgrade will be heightened if the group is able to enhance the level and stability of risk resilience further by accumulating new business even in the face of persistently low interest rates.

4 The primary rating methodologies applied to this rating are provided at "R&I's Basic Methodology for Corporate Credit Ratings", "Shared Rating Approach for Financial Institutions, etc.", "Life Insurance", "R&I's Analytical Approach to Financial Groups", "R&I's Analytical Approach to Regulatory Capital Instruments and Financial Institutions" and "Evaluation of Equity Credit Attributes of Hybrid Securities and Rating Perspectives". The methodologies are available at the web site listed below, together with other rating methodologies that are taken into consideration when assigning the rating. R&I RATINGS: Nippon Life Insurance Co. A Stable (redemption date: Aug 03, 2012 Aug 01, 2018 JPY 50,000 August 1, 2018) A (redemption date: Aug 05, 2015 Aug 01, 2019 JPY 50,000 August 1, 2019) A (redemption date: Aug 02, 2017 Jul 29, 2021 JPY 50,000 July 29, 2021) A Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.1 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Apr 30, 2015 Apr 30, 2045 JPY 75,000 Apr 27, 2016 Apr 27, 2046 JPY 70,000 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.3 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Apr 27, 2016 Apr 27, 2051 JPY 30,000 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.4 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Nov 22, 2016 Nov 22, 2046 JPY 75,000

5 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.5 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Nov 22, 2016 Nov 22, 2051 JPY 15,000 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.6 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Apr 19, 2017 Apr 19, 2047 JPY 100,000 Sub. Loan Loan Execution Maturity Date Amount (mn) Apr 27, 2018 Apr 22, 2048 JPY 100,000 Commercial Paper ISSUE LIMIT (mn): JPY 300,000 SUPPORT: Unsecured a-1+, Affirmed Mitsui Life Insurance Co., Ltd. A Stable Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.1 (Perp.) Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Jul 25, JPY 30,000 Jul 25, 2016 Jul 25, 2046 JPY 50,000 Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. A Stable (redemption date: Aug 08, 2013 Aug 03, 2018 JPY 50,000 August 3, 2018) (redemption date: Aug 07, 2014 Aug 02, 2019 JPY 60,000 August 2, 2019)

6 (redemption date: Aug 09, 2016 Aug 04, 2021 JPY 100,000 August 4, 2021) (redemption date: Aug 04, 2017 Aug 01, 2022 JPY 50,000 August 1, 2022) Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.1 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Dec 15, 2016 Dec 15, 2046 JPY 100,000 Dec 15, 2016 Dec 15, 2051 JPY 15,000 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.3 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Nov 06, 2017 Nov 06, 2047 JPY 100,000 The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co., Ltd. The Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. (redemption date: Aug 08, 2012 Aug 03, 2018 JPY 50,000 August 3, 2018)

7 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.1 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Nov 20, 2014 Nov 20, 2074 JPY 50,000 Jun 29, 2016 Jun 29, 2076 JPY 70,000 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.3 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Jun 29, 2016 Jun 29, 2076 JPY 30,000 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.4 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Dec 21, 2016 Dec 21, 2076 JPY 84,000 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.5 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Dec 21, 2016 Dec 21, 2076 JPY 10,000 Unsec. Sub. Bonds No.6 Issue Date Maturity Date Issue Amount (mn) Dec 21, 2016 Dec 21, 2076 JPY 11,000 Medicare Life Insurance Co., Ltd.