PDF [4833KB] - Sony

Financial
Services
Teruhisa Tokunaka, Executive Deputy President,
Representative Corporate Executive Officer
A new financial holding company
integrating life insurance, non-life
insurance and banking functions, and
offering high added-value products and
high-quality services
Sony established a financial holding
company, Sony Financial Holdings Inc., on
April 1, 2004
On April 1, 2004, Sony established Sony
Financial Holdings Inc. (SFH) to oversee the
operations of Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd.
(Sony Life), Sony Assurance Inc. (Sony Assurance)
and Sony Bank Inc. (Sony Bank). With this
move, SFH became the first financial holding
company in Japan to integrate three financial
services under one umbrella: life insurance,
non-life insurance and banking.
Unlike other Sony Group businesses, a
growth in our financial services business brings
a concurrent increase in the volume of assets
deposited by customers. As of March 31,
2004, total assets of Sony’s Financial Services
segment stood at approximately ¥3,475.0
billion, a 20% increase compared to the end
of the previous fiscal year, as these businesses
continued to expand. The financial services
market in Japan is changing due to factors
such as a decreasing birth rate, a rapidly aging
population and advances in information technology.
These trends are expected to generate
even greater diversity in customers’ lifestyles,
and consequently in the financial products
they require.
To respond quickly and accurately to these
changes, we decided that the Sony Group’s
financial services business needed to adopt a
holding company structure that further concentrates
specialized knowledge and operational
resources believing that such a structure would
better enable the Group to develop valueadded
products and services that enhance
customer convenience. Accordingly, we set up
SFH as a strategic and creative financial holding
company. The aim is to raise the corporate
value of financial services businesses by transcending
the boundaries of life insurance,
non-life insurance and banking, creating a
unified platform for the diverse functions of
savings, investment, borrowings and protection.
Promoting extensive disclosure for the
financial services business
Increasing the corporate value of the
entire Sony Group by raising the value of
the financial services business
While preserving the independence of the
three financial services from Sony Corporation
as a whole, the establishment of SFH allows
the provision of a coordinated and comprehensive
financial strategy. SFH is confident
that this approach will create a sound financial
services business and lead to steady
growth. Accomplishing this aim will add
value to the Sony brand by linking it more
closely with security and trust in the eyes of
its customers, while at the same time producing
earnings that contribute to Sony’s
consolidated performance.
SFH is also committed to extensive disclosure.
By encouraging greater understanding regarding
the soundness of its management by
customers and investors alike, SFH will strive
to become an increasingly trusted provider of
financial services.
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