Nippon Life Insurance Co. said Monday that Kunie Okamoto, a senior managing director, will be promoted to succeed Ikuo Uno as president beginning April 1.

Okamoto, 60, joined Japan's largest life insurer in 1969 after graduating from the University of Tokyo. He has been senior managing director since March 2002.

Speaking at a news conference, Okamoto said he plans to strengthen operations in other countries, such as China, and aggressively develop new products.

He also said he will strive to shore up Nippon Life's capital-to-asset ratio to 10 percent by expanding its capital base to 4.5 trillion yen from the current 3 trillion yen.

Nippon Life said Uno, 70, will assume the chairmanship with the right to represent the company and that he will serve as chairman of the Life Insurance Association until July.

Uno has been Nippon Life's president for nearly eight years. Having served two terms as chairman of the association, including the current term, he is reputed to have improved the safety net for policyholders in the wake of a spate of life insurance bankruptcies in the late 1990s.