``We are providing a type of service that other companies do not offer and our customers are very happy with it,'' said its president and chief operating officer, Ichiro Kono.

The firm is a subsidiary of the largest insurance company in the United States, Prudential Insurance Company of America. Its total assets at the end of March last year stood at 241.6 billion yen ($2.01 billion), up nearly 40 per cent from the previous year. While Prudential's presence in Japan is small, it has succeeded in carving out a niche for itself by selling life insurance policies through ``life planners,'' who tailor insurance products to fit the needs of individual customers, Kono said.

``Other companies are trying to emulate us, but their services are not as thorough as ours,'' Kono said. Regarding possible tie-ups between Japanese and foreign insurance companies, Kono said more tie-ups similar to the one being negotiated between Asahi Mutual Life Insurance and a subsidiary of Metropolitan Life Insurance (MetLife) were likely.

Asahi Life and its subsidiary Asahi Life Investment Mangement Co are in negotiations with Nvest Co Ltd Partnership, a MetLife subsidiary, for a tie-up on asset management business.

Asahi Life was to make an announcement on the tie-up on Friday. Last year, the Prudential Insurance Company of America established a joint venture with Mitsui Trust & Banking Co Ltd to market investment trusts in Japan.

``There probably will be more tie-ups between foreign insurers who don't have a presence in Japan and Japanese insurers,'' said Kono.

Such relationships will give Japanese insurers access to state-of-the-art asset management technology while providing foreign insurers with channels for distributing financial products such as investment trusts in Japan.

But Kono said Prudential's Tokyo subsidiary was not interested in tie-ups with Japanese insurance companies.

``We are not thinking of selling insurance policies through tie-ups with Japanese insurers,'' because differences in business philosophies would stand in the way, Kono said.

There is relatively little at stake for Prudential in forthcoming US-Japan talks on insurance because it does not sell any ``third sector'' products such as cancer insurance and it has few complaints about the Financial Supervisory Authority, which oversees the insurance industry in Japan.

The United States has complained that Japan has not fulfilled all its obligations under a 1996 insurance pact and therefore should not go ahead with its plan to open lucrative ``third sector'' niche markets for cancer and other specialty insurance -- now dominated by foreigners -- to domestic competition in 2001.

Deputy US Trade Representative Richard Fisher said in January he expected discussions on the subject in the near future.

The birth of the Financial Supervisory Authority has made it easier for foreign insurers to operate in Japan, as the standards used for granting approval to new products seem to be clearer than when the ministry of finance was in charge, Kono said.

``We're wondering what all the fuss is about,'' said Kono, referring to the expected bilateral talks on insurance. He added: ``It is not our concern anyway, because we don't sell third-sector products and we have no interest in trying to establish business relationships with Japanese corporations and selling them insurance."