“The times they are a-changin’,” Bob Dylan sang during
a turbulent decade long ago. Today, as global leaders
gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum 2022,
Dylan’s words ring truer than ever. Our world is in a time
of profound and complex change. Advances in science
and technology are improving lives and creating new
global possibilities. At the same time, existential risks
are rising; deadly pandemics, military aggression,
cybercrime and warfare, and the most dangerous threat
of all – climate change. In these uncertain times, people
are naturally searching for safe havens. More than ever,
they feel the need for security, health and wellbeing.
SOMPO can deliver on those needs. While it may be a new
and unfamiliar name to some, SOMPO Holdings is one of
the largest insurers and nursing care providers in Japan.
And it has a long and proven history of helping people.
The SOMPO story began in 1888, over 130 years ago, with
the founding of its predecessor, the Tokyo Fire Insurance
Company. It was Japan’s first fire insurance firm, which
representeda bold innovation at the time. But what truly
distinguishedthe company was what it did next.
Rather than just pay compensation after losses, the fi rm
decided it would also work to prevent disasters. It created
the Tokyo Fire Brigade. As the only private-sector fi refi ghters
of their day, they were always at the ready, responding
to countless blazes, saving homes, businesses and lives.
That proactive approach became part of SOMPO’s DNA.
Today, that approach is guiding the group’s transformation
into a new and unique type of enterprise beyond that of
an insurance company. “SOMPO’s Purpose” is to create a
society in which every person can live a healthy, prosperous,
and happy life in their own way. SOMPO is doing that by
building what it calls a “Theme Park for Security, Health and
Wellbeing.”If that sounds like an ambitious goal, SOMPO is well-
positioned to achieve it. Along with its pioneering vision,
SOMPO’s strengths include its size, product diversity, global
reach, distribution networks, industry-leading technologies,
breadth of experience and an incomparable corps of
talent. Since its early days, the company has steadily
grown through merging with other insurance firms and
groups. In the process, it expanded its base ofcustomers
and broadened its range of services. Partnerships have
also been vital, taking the firm into new fields and new
countries. In 2010, it founded SOMPO Holdingsto manage
its increasingly diverse portfolio. To advance its global
goals, in 2017, it acquired Endurance Specialty Holdings
and established SOMPO International with a footprint in
29 countries and over 74,000 employees.SOMPO’s core businesses are domestic property and
casualty insurance, overseas insurance and reinsurance,
domestic life insurance, nursing care anddigital businesses.
SOMPO and its subsidiaries are financially strong,
their balance sheets filled with high-quality assets and
excellent liquidity. That solid financia footing provides the
foundation for SOMPO to venture into newbusinesses with
new technologies and to operate with asocial conscience.
These are exemplified by the companysforay into nursing
homes and care in Japan. SOMPO’s nursing homes do
more than tend to the elderly. They employtechnological