Thank you very much for taking the time to attend our financial services desk today. We would now like to start the event. My name is Kondo from the IR team from Sony Group, and I'll be serving as the MC today. First, we will hear from Mr. Totoki, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, President and CEO of Sony Group Corporation. He will share a message regarding the upcoming partial spin-off. Then Mr. Endo, President and CEO of Sony Financial Group, will present the business strategy of Sony Financial Group. Following that, Mr. Hayakawa, Senior Vice President in Charge of Finance and IR at Sony Group Corporation, will explain the scheme and other details of the partial spin-off. After that, we will proceed to the Q&A session. The entire session is expected to last approximately 75 minutes. Mr. Totoki, the floor is yours.
Hello everyone. I am Totoki of Sony Group Corporation. Thank you for joining us today for the Financial Services Investor Day. Since announcing in May 2023 that we had begun considering a partial spin-off of the financial services business, we have been making various preparations. At the Board of Directors meeting held on May 14, 2025, we resolved a plan to proceed with the spin-off in October. At this Investor Day, in preparation for the listing of the shares of Sony Financial Group Inc., Mr. Endo, SFGI's President and CEO, will explain the strengths of the financial services business, its growth strategy, its capital policy, among others, while SGC's Mr. Hayakawa will mainly explain the structure of the listing. The financial services business will continue to be an important business for the Sony Group even after the spin-off.
We will continue to hold a position, a portion of SFGI shares, and based on this continued ownership, we'll continue to support the further growth of the financial services business through such means as licensing the Sony brand and sharing Sony Group's technology, IP, and IT infrastructure. Since becoming SGC's wholly owned subsidiary in 2020, SFGI has increased the speed and flexibility of its management and has steadily grown the business of each of its financial group companies. As we explained at last year's business segment meeting, we determined that going forward, in order for both Sony Financial Group and the rest of the Sony Group to achieve further growth, maximize their respective corporate value, and further realize that value, it was best to proceed with the spin-off. I believe there are two important points to consider for the future growth of the financial services business.
The first point is reinforcing branding. At Sony Financial Group, or Sony FG, which specializes in domestic retail finance, the Sony brand itself represents a promise of long-term safety and security to customers, and the branding must be continually strengthened. The second point is leveraging the Sony Group's infrastructure and investing in growth. In order to expand its customer base, we expect that Sony FG will need to invest in its own IT systems while efficiently leveraging the Sony Group's DX infrastructure and, in the mid to long term, make strategic investments such as through M&A. In addition, financial services businesses, which have a public interest and are required to have a high level of financial soundness, require a large amount of capital.
We believe that this spin-off will be extremely significant in that it will enable Sony FG to secure its own fundraising capabilities while continuing to use the Sony brand and collaborate with the Sony Group. In addition, by becoming a listed company specializing in the financial services business, we believe Sony FG will be able to collaborate with external partners, implement optimal capital policies, and attract talented personnel, among other things. Through this spin-off, SGC shareholders will also become shareholders of SFGI. We hope you will once again appreciate Sony FG's unique strength and future potential and continue to hold SFGI's shares. Now, Endo-san, please go ahead. Thank you, Totoki-san. Next, we will explain about Sony Financial Group business strategy. Endo-san, the floor is yours.
Hello everyone. I am Toshihide Endo from Sony Financial Group. Now, Totoki-san mentioned the significance of partial spin-off while also touching on the future of Sony Group Corporation and the financial services business. I believe that the spin-off and listing of SFGI is a golden opportunity for Sony Financial Group to achieve further growth and that we have entered an important period that can be described as a second founding of Sony FG. As I stated in last year's business segment meeting, as CEO of SFGI, I am committed to breaking away from the past practice of relying on SGC and determined to work to create corporate value. In FY2024, the first year of the current mid-range plan, we have started implementing painful measures in order to increase the financial soundness and resilience to market environment changes of Sony Life, which accounts for the bulk of Sony FG's profits.
We plan to be listed at the end of September 2025, which is a midpoint of the current mid-range plan, which will be concluded in FY26. While continuing to implement fundamental measures, we plan to work to generate stable cash flow and actively return profits to shareholders. To that end, we aim to rebuild Sony Life's portfolio and establish a management strategy that will enable us to continue generating stable profits, thereby realizing a vision truly befitting Sony FG's second founding. Looking ahead to 2030, we intend to not only accelerate investment and growth, including through M&A, but also take on the challenges of developing both new markets and new financial services. We aim to do our utmost to be a financial services company that is truly valued by its shareholders and the wide range of stakeholders.
First of all, I would like to set out the direction in which Sony FG is heading in strengthening its cooperation with Sony Group, which remains essential for Sony FG's further growth. The two key pillars of our approach to coordination with Sony Group are brand and technology. In terms of brand, we will be able to continue using the Sony brand even after the spin-off, with the aim of further expanding brand value through business collaboration with Sony Group. As you can see on the next slide, we also intend to make full use of Sony's IP and entertainment assets. As for technology, here too, we are planning to leverage Sony Group's strengths in technology and business collaboration.
As you can see from the materials, technological collaboration is already underway at Sony FG's companies in areas such as Web 3.0 data analysis and utilization, AI-driven assistance, and game-related technologies. Our new corporate philosophy has been formulated in preparation for our listing to serve as a new banner for Sony FG's second founding. Our new vision is pursuing lives filled with emotion together, as you saw in the new vision movie just before we started. We have taken Kondo, the key principle for Sony Group, and encapsulated it in our new vision. At Sony FG, being in the business of supporting people, we express our desire to continue to support our customers in living true to themselves.
We have defined three concepts: nearly Kondo for life, a foundation for our customers to live their own lives filled with emotion; health for life, to live with energy and vibrance; and finally, asset for life, to live with financial well-being. By staying close to people through these four life concepts, Sony FG aims to continue being a supportive presence of its customers through both joys and uncertainties in their lives and thereby sustainably increase corporate value. Starting July 25, we also plan to strengthen our corporate branding by having each company in Sony FG introduce utilized Peanuts, well known for the character Snoopy, as a shared intellectual property across Sony FG. The Peanuts newspaper comic strip began in 1950 and has been delivered as "Daily Happiness to Americans." "Happiness is a warm puppy" is one of the iconic phrases from the comic strip.
is a clear affinity between Sony FG's new vision and the worldview of the story of Peanuts. Sony FG plans to utilize Peanuts characters to promote our new vision as well as strengthen our branding across Sony FG. We think that Sony FG has four strengths as shown here. I will begin by explaining the first investment highlight of value-creating financial group that carries on the founding spirit of Sony. Sony FG has grown by developing a unique business model that has put customers first without being bound by conventional industry practices. The culture at Sony FG has its origins in the desire of one of Sony's founders, Akiyō Morita, to contribute to society by taking on challenges that others had not.
Since its founding in 1979, Sony Life, the core of the group, has provided customized insurance products based on consulting rather than product-oriented sales, offering new value to customers and bringing a breath of fresh air to the industry. As can be seen in the case of Sony Assurance, founded 20 years later, which introduced dynamic pricing through an internet channel for the first time in Japan, or that of Sony Bank, which developed an entirely paperless system for contracts. Each of our businesses has succeeded in formulating its own business model and creating new value in step with the times. Next is about the current overview of Sony FG. Sony Life is a group's core business. It operates through the two highly productive channels, the life planner and agency channel, and has built a solid customer base, primarily among families and small companies.
Sony Assurance holds the number one market share in the direct auto insurance market, supported by high brand recognition and customer satisfaction. Meanwhile, Sony Bank, as an internet bank, operates a mortgage loan business that continues to grow steadily, as well as a highly convenient foreign currency deposit business. I will now turn to the direction of Sony FG's group strategy. Sony FG has achieved steady growth across all of its businesses, each of which has established core competencies and evolved into a unique value provider. From one perspective, this represented a success story, but it is too simplistic to think that the value of Sony FG is merely the sum of its parts, with each of its businesses seeking its own path and added value.
Going forward, the core competencies and functions that each business has demonstrated thus far are expected to be substantially integrated into Sony Life, which boasts the greatest growth in added value in the group, with the aim of providing value as a unified group with Sony Life as its core. More specifically, we intend to leverage core competencies across business boundaries within the group, such as Sony Assurance's strong brand recognition and customer acquisition capabilities, and Sony Bank's asset circulation foundation, in aim to provide new added value to our customers by developing cross-functional products and services while building a unified group scrum. Next, I will outline Sony FG's vision for fiscal year 2030. Focusing on profit growth driven by Sony Life, we aim to achieve an adjusted net income of JPY 170 billion or more for our existing businesses as a whole in fiscal year 2030.
In addition to these existing businesses, we aim to pursue further growth forward to FY2030 by providing new value through integrated group initiatives, as I mentioned a moment ago, and by entering new business domains. Now I'll move on to explain the second investment highlight, namely that Sony Life, which has top-class competitive sales channels in Japan as its core, is a value driver. Sony Life, the core of the group, has maintained strong growth within Japan's life insurance industry, steadily expanding both its business scale and market share. Please look at the left side of the slide. Between FY2019 and the third quarter of FY2024, annualized premiums for policies enforced at Japan's four major life insurance companies declined by approximately 1% per year. In contrast, Sony Life's annualized premiums from policies enforced grew at approximately 7% per year during the same period.
Sony Life's strength lies in its consulting-based sales approach, which uncovers protection needs that are not always readily apparent. As shown in the share condition chart on the right, Sony Life has maintained the top position in Japan for two consecutive years in terms of the new policy amount, which represents the total amount of coverage underwritten for customers.
Since its founding, Sony Life has focused primarily on insurance sales to individual customers through the life planner channel. In recent years, however, sales to corporate customers via both the life planner and the agency channels have become key growth drivers. Our success in the individual segment via the life planner channel is underpinned by three factors. First of all, establishing a consulting-based sales approach within the life planner channel, gaining a deep understanding of customer needs, and providing new products that meet customers' needs in a timely manner. Replicating the successful model in the agency channel and corporate customer market subsequently has led to strong growth in new policy acquisitions from corporate customers in recent years. The strong competitive advantages of the life planner sales specialists are at the core of the group's competitiveness and a key driver of our growth.
These advantages are underpinned by our commitment to selective recruitment, consulting sales, and a full commission system. First, our selective recruitment strategy involves carefully selecting and recruiting top-performing talent from other industries. These recruits from other industries bring them an existing client base which further strengthens our business. Second, our consulting-based sales approach stands in contrast to conventional product-driven sales methods. We have established a dialogue-based, accompanying style that uncovers client needs through attentive communication. In recent years, we have further enhanced this model by leveraging advanced tools such as GRIP and BISPLAN Web to deliver even greater value. Furthermore, we have established a high-income structure by introducing a full commission system without a base salary. As a result, life planner sales specialists provide high-quality service to customers with productivity levels approximately five times the industry average.
Moreover, our number of MDRT members, those who meet the highest standards in sales performance and service quality, is among the highest in the industry. Next, I will discuss our agency supporters and the advantages they bring. Sony Life's agency supporters provide sales support to insurance agencies, assisting them in their insurance sales activities. Leveraging consulting skills developed through the Life Planner channel, they not only support the agencies at that point of customer engagement but also provide broad-based support in agency management. As a result, the IFRS new business value per agency supporter has grown, amounting to an approximate three-fold increase between fiscal year 2019 and 2024. This slide illustrates the landscape of the corporate market and its competitive environment.
By the time corporate encompasses a wide range of company sizes, both channels have particular strengths in providing business protection solutions to owners of small-scale enterprises, as shown on the left-hand side of the slide. The right-hand side of the slide shows Sony Life's unique strengths, which differentiates it from competitors and the number of corporate clients it serves. Sony Life leverages the consulting sales know-how cultivated through insurance sales for individuals in the life planner channel to provide ongoing accompanying style consulting services in both life planner and agency channels with the goal of solving the issues that business owners face. Whereas conventional sales approaches typically focus on product-oriented consulting and highly skilled life planner sales specialists, agency supporters utilize BISPLAN Web to engage in ongoing dialogue with clients. This enables them to ascertain and then identify potential management issues and propose effective solutions.
To drive further growth in both the life planner and agency channels, we plan to increase the number of life planner channel sales specialists to 7,000 and that of agency supporters to 400 by fiscal year 2030. In the life planner channel in particular, we are actively recruiting more women and professionals with backgrounds at financial institutions in order to better respond to increasingly diverse customer needs. Furthermore, by maintaining high productivity by parsing both the life planner and the agency channels, we believe we will strengthen our ability to attract top sales talent, which in turn is expected to create a positive cycle of enhanced productivity and recruitment, expanding Sony Life's overall sales capabilities and driving further growth. With Japan's population shrinking, how will Sony Life increase its customer base? The answer lies in three factors.
Sony Life's strong sales channels and expansion of its customer base from traditional family customers to also include corporate customers, which have grown significantly in recent years. Finally, support from Sony Assurance, Sony Bank, and Sony Life Care. In other words, we plan to establish touchpoints with corporate customers. As you can see in this material, you can go around towards the left. Business owners and management will work to provide continuous value, ranging from services for family estate succession, pre-senior and senior services, and employee services to services of the entire family. Additionally, for Generation Z and the younger generations who are difficult to reach through Sony Life's life planner sales specialists, we intend to leverage the core competencies of Sony Bank and Sony Assurance to secure touchpoints.
In this way, we aim to strive to achieve further growth for Sony FG centered on Sony Life by organically connecting customers of all generations and across all channels and providing them with value. I will continue by explaining the third investment highlight, risk profile centered on insurance risk and an strategy. The risk profile of Sony Life, which accounts for the majority of Sony FG's consolidated risk basis on economic value, continues to be centered on insurance risk. The left side of the slide shows a breakdown of risk, while the right side outlines our asset management policy. Compared with the average of other listed life insurance companies, Sony Life's exposure to insurance risks is relatively high, while its exposure to market risk is relatively low. Market risk includes minimum exposure to equities and is primarily composed of interest rate risk.
In terms of asset management, we intend to enhance our ALM to maintain an appropriate level of soundness while also diversifying investments to disperse risk and capture excess returns. This graph on the left side shows the cash flow of assets and liabilities in yen broken down by maturity. To date, we have implemented a multifaceted approach to address ALM-related issues through product development, sales, and asset management while meeting customer needs. Going forward, we aim to promote cash flow matching of assets and liabilities by maturity in order to further advance ALM. Specifically, we are working to first restrict new contracts encompassing ultra-long-term insurance liability cash flows by limiting whole life insurance. Second, increase insurance liabilities within 40 years. Third, further improve ALM through asset-side approaches and other measures. Although Sony FG consolidated ESR has trended downward, it remains within our target range.
Interest rate sensitivity also widened temporarily at the end of the first half of fiscal year 2024 due to rising interest rates, but since then improved to negative 17 percentage points for the year as a whole as a result of the sales of bonds and use of derivatives and review of risk measurement methods. Going forward, we plan to work to raise the ESR level by leveraging the acquisition of new policies through strong sales channels to build up economic value-based capital while reducing risk with the aim of maintaining ESR within our target level even when interest rates fluctuate. Next, I will cover the fourth investment highlight, stable shareholder returns. In line with the reduction in interest rate sensitivity that I mentioned a moment ago, we have revised the target range for Sony FG consolidated ESR and lowered the upper limit from 235% to 215%.
After listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, our basic policy for shareholder returns is expected to be to allocate 40%-50% of adjusted net income to dividends. In principle, we do not plan to reduce annual dividends per share, but we aim for stable dividend growth over time for fiscal year 2025. Our first fiscal year after listing, we plan to pay a JPY 25 billion dividend for half a year, which is equivalent to JPY 50 billion on an annualized basis. In addition, we plan to execute share repurchases in an amount totaling approximately JPY 100 billion between the listing and the end of March 2027. For fiscal year 2026, the fiscal year of the current mid-range plan, we have raised the adjusted net income target from the previously announced JPY 120 billion to JPY 125 billion.
We aim to achieve an adjusted ROE of 10% or more in fiscal year 2026. Please note that we plan to apply J-GAAP at the time of the listing in September 2025, but expect to adopt IFRS starting in fiscal year 2026. For both adjusted net income and adjusted ROE, our goal is to improve performance towards fiscal year 2026 by driving growth through Sony Life's enhanced corporate strategy at this core, improving Sony Assurance's combined vision and expanding Sony Bank's interest speed. Thank you for your attention.
Thank you, Endo-san. Now, there will be an explanation about the partial spin-off. Hayakawa-san, please.
Today, I will explain the structure of the spin-off along with its contents. In the spin-off, the shares of Sony Financial Group Inc. will be distributed to shareholders of Sony Group Corporation through dividends in kind. Upon the spin-off, SFGI shares are expected to be newly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market through a direct listing. As a result of the execution of the spin-off, shareholders of Sony will hold both listed shares of Sony and SFGI. Currently, Sony holds 100% of SFGI shares, and after the spin-off, Sony plans to continue holding slightly less than 20% of SFGI shares, and SFGI will no longer be a consolidated subsidiary of Sony but will become an affiliate of Sony accounted for using the equity method. Next, I will explain the schedule of the spin-off.
After Sony announced the initiation of consideration of the spin-off in May 2023, Sony has proceeded with the necessary process. Sony plans to execute the spin-off with the effective date on October 1, 2025, with a resolution of the Board of Directors of Sony to be held in early September. The last trading date with dividend rights will be on September 26, and the ex-dividend date will be on September 29. To those who are recorded as shareholders of Sony as of the record date of dividends in kind, September 30, SFGI shares will be distributed at the rate of one SFGI share to one Sony share on October 1. In addition, SFGI shares are scheduled to be listed and tradable on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on the ex-dividend date, September 29.
Please contact your securities company to confirm whether or not you are able to trade SFGI shares because different securities companies may have different policies and procedures. Next, I will explain a direct listing. SFGI plans to be listed through direct listing without any primary or secondary offering. This slide shows the comparison between a direct listing and an ordinary IPO. While both are methods to make unlisted shares public, a direct listing is a method without issuing new shares or any primary or secondary offering and is therefore different in how the first enterprises on the trading board are determined. In ordinary IPOs, the first enterprise on the trading board is determined through book building or auction, while in a direct listing, the first enterprise on the trading board is determined by the Tokyo Stock Exchange referring to the reference price submitted by the listing sponsor.
This will be the second case in Japan for new listings through direct listing, but there have been various cases overseas. As explained, the first enterprise on the trading board will be determined by the TSE referring to the reference price submitted by the listing sponsor. In this page, I will explain the process of determining the price of SFGI shares in chronological order. Up to a week before the listing date, the reference price of SFGI shares will be submitted by Nomura Securities as the listing sponsor to the TSE. By the listing date, the first enterprise on the trading board will be determined and announced by the TSE. The daily price limits will be set between 0.75 and 2.3 times the first enterprise on the trading board, and this range will be used as a basis for the special matching mechanism until the initial price is determined.
The initial price will be determined according to actual supply and demand within the range that incorporates the regular renewal price interval applied to the upper and lower limits of the matching mechanism. The first enterprise on the trading board is the price that is used as a basis for the matching mechanism until the initial price is determined, and the reference price is a price referred to in order to determine the first enterprise on the trading board. Neither of these indicates the actual trading price or the equity value of SFGI shares. Next, I will explain the relationship between Sony Financial Group and Sony after the spin-off. Sony plans to hold slightly less than 20% of SFGI shares as of the effective date of the spin-off.
SFGI plans to repurchase SFGI shares amounting to approximately JPY 100 billion over a period from its listing until the end of March 2027 in order to mitigate the impact on the supply and demand of the SFGI shares after its listing and to improve capital efficiency at SFGI after its listing. As a result of such repurchase of shares, the total number of outstanding SFGI shares, excluding treasury stock, is expected to decrease, and therefore Sony's equity interest in SFGI is expected to increase. However, Sony's equity interest in SFGI would still be slightly less than 20% as of the completion of the repurchase after listing. Also, SFGI is expected to be an affiliate of Sony accounted for using the equity method after the spin-off.
After the execution of the spin-off, Sony FG will be allowed to continue to use Sony brands in principle as long as Sony holds SFGI shares. Sony FG will be able to further strengthen its strong customer base supported by the cross-business collaboration with Sony Group. In addition, Sony FG will be able to further improve the value provided to its customers by leveraging Sony's strengths in technology, IP, and IT infrastructure, such as borderless digital banking, utilizing Web3-related technologies, data analysis, and utilization in the sales support and nursing care fields, and AI assistance on customer support, utilization of game-related technologies, and content for use in rehabilitation. Next, I will explain the treatment of Sony's American Depository Receipts, or ADRs. Sony understands from J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., the depository for Sony ADRs, that J.P.
Morgan plans to distribute the SFGI unsponsored ADRs based on a program newly established by them to holders of Sony ADRs as part of the record date for Sony ADRs as of the record date for Sony ADRs on September 29. J.P. Morgan plans to provide detailed information in English, including the distribution schedule, applicable fees, distribution ratio, and other items related to the distribution of SFGI unsponsored ADRs to holders of Sony ADRs as of the record date for Sony ADRs. The SFGI ADR program will be unsponsored and will be established and managed by J.P. Morgan without any involvement of Sony or SFGI. Next, I will explain the Japanese tax treatment of the spin-off.
The spin-off will be conducted on the assumption that it is a qualified stock distribution under Japanese tax laws, and Sony will not be subject to capital gains tax when Sony distributes SFGI shares to its shareholders. Also, taxation on the deemed dividend will not apply to the shareholders of Sony shares in connection with the dividends in kind of SFGI shares. In addition, while the shareholders will be deemed to have transferred a portion of the Sony shares held by them upon the spin-off, the taxation on the gains or losses arising from such deemed share transfer will be deferred. The acquisition cost of Sony and SFGI shares applicable to the shareholder for tax purposes immediately after the spin-off will be the amounts calculated using the proportion of distributed assets, which is stipulated in the Corporation Tax Act of Japan and the Income Tax Act of Japan.
Please refer to the figure for detailed calculation method. The above mentioned is to explain the Japanese tax treatment of the spin-off and does not purport to describe the tax treatment of the spin-off in any jurisdictions other than Japan. Next, I will explain how to calculate the base price of Sony shares at the time of the ex-dividend date for Sony shares on September 29. Trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is expected to be carried out using the base price. The base price of Sony shares on the ex-dividend date, indicated as D in the right side of the slide, is calculated by subtracting B, the interim dividend per Sony share, and C, the first enterprise on the trading board of Sony Financial Group Inc. shares from A, the closing price of Sony shares on the last trading date with dividend rights.
The base price is a reference price for the daily price limit. It does not indicate the actual trading price or the equity value of Sony shares on September 29. Finally, I will explain the impact of the spin-off on Sony's consolidated financial results. Upon the resolution of the board on May 14, Sony will classify the financial services business as a discontinued operation in accordance with IFRS accounting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board from first quarter of fiscal year 2025 and presented separately from continuing operations excluding the financial services business. As explained after the execution of the spin-off, SFGI is expected to become an affiliate of Sony accounted for using the equity method. There will be three major accounting treatments that will affect Sony's consolidated financial results, as shown here.
Among these, particularly as a result of the accounting treatment number two, transfer of the financial services business, accumulated other comprehensive income and accounting loss is anticipated to be recorded in the discontinued operation depending on the actual amount of AOCI recognized upon the execution of the spin-off. This accounting treatment is solely a transfer of accounts within the equity line item on the consolidated statements of financial position and does not impact total equity. Sony will provide further information on the impact of Sony's consolidated financial results if there are any important updates. This concludes my explanation. Please also refer to the explanatory materials and Q&A regarding the spin-off, which are available on the Investor website. We hope that all shareholders will understand the purpose and structure of the spin-off and continue to hold shares in both the company and SFGI for a long time to come.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
Thank you, Hayaka-san . Later, from 3:05 P.M., we will begin a Q&A session for the media, and from 3:30 P.M., we will start the Q&A session for investors and analysts. Each session is scheduled to be for about 20 minutes. For those who have pre-registered to submit a question online, please click the Join Webinar and remain in attendance. Please review the instructions and important notes that were sent in advance regarding the Q&A. Thank you for your patience as we prepare to begin. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting. Now we would like to take the questions from the media.
I am from the PR Department. My name is Ishii, and I will be serving as the emcee. First, I would like to introduce the attendants. Sony Financial Group, President and CEO, Endo Toshihide. Corporate Executive Officer, Suzuki Takayuki.
Executive Officer, Tsai Takumi. Sony Life Insurance Company Limited, Senior Executive Officer, Yamashita Nahoko. Sony Group Corporation, Senior Vice President, Hayakawa Sadahiko. As announced yesterday, due to health reasons, Sony Financial Group's CFO, Mr. Yamada, will be absent. In his place, Mr. Suzuki, Mr. Tsai, and Ms. Yamashita will take the stage to address your questions. For those participating online who wish to ask a question, please click the Raise Hand button on the Webex screen. For those attending in person, please raise your hand. A staff member will bring you a microphone. Each participant may ask up to two questions. Now we would like to take questions. From the central block, second row from the front in the black jacket.
Toyo Keizai Umegaki speaking. I would like to ask several questions. First is about Endo-san explained that 2030 M&A and there will be some investments.
Among the financial institutions overseas, retail expansion, there are M&A cases. For the mid-long term, is an overseas expansion one of the options?
Thank you for the question. For overseas business strategy, there was a question asked. For our overseas strategy, our mid-long term strategy is that it is one of our part of our important strategy. The current mid-range plan, 2024 through 2026, as explained today, the recent business model, we want to further polish and deepen the current strategy. While doing that, our business model, if there is any affinity or any complementary business overseas, if there is any opportunity to expand, we are striving to identify that in the next mid-range plan from fiscal year 2027. Overseas business strategy will be considered in a full-fledged manner. Thank you. Another question.
I would like to ask my next question about the Life Planner channel and Life Planners that have a background from the financial institutions, female Life Planners. Recently, there have been fraud cases in the insurance industry. In the past, Prudential Life, which has a relationship with Sony, and also there has been a requisition report. Also at Sony Life, Sony Assurance, what kind of preventive measures or initiatives are we taking to prevent such scandals or incidents happening? At Sony Life, about the incidents and acts or initiatives to prevent such incidents. As mentioned correctly, for life insurance, there have been scandals, incidents recently by the sales agents at Sony Life. One thing is that in 2023, the Life Insurance Association created a compliance point and a guidance.
Based on that guidance, in terms of prevention of incidents, we have created the organization and system for prevention. For Sony Life, I am also served as a director of Sony Life. The communication with the life planners, I felt that the most important is that the various initiatives. As far as I look at these initiatives, I think we have the full range. When it comes to all these scandals and incidents, it is all about the culture at the front line, how dense or embedded the communication is. That is the most important part. At Sony Life, there are 120 branches and head of branches. We have a nationwide coverage. With the head of the branches, whether there is good communication or not, any suspicious actions or people in trouble, whether or not, that could be identified at an early stage.
Also, at Sony Life, when we have various discussions, what was most impressive was that within Sony Life, what is being communicated, there is a slogan, C equals C. What this C means is C for customer, customer contribution, then compensation. First comes the customer, and you contribute to the customer. We have a full commission system then followed by the compensation. The very last is company. This putting customer first, placing priority to customers and contribution, contributing, when this is embedded in the culture in Sony Life, I believe that we are able to prevent these scandal incidents happening. I am quite determined. By all means, Sony Life, we want to create and maintain a good corporate culture so that these incidents, scandals never happen. We will make sure that Sony Life, SFGI together will work in moderating the situation.
That is my response.
Let us move on to the next question. My third from the front row to us, the right person with the brown jacket. You may ask the question.
This is Shirokawa from Nikkei. Thank you very much for this opportunity. I have one question. In your previous explanation, you talked about how you would like to put Sony Life at the center of your collaboration with the group. I would like to know what kind of benefit will be brought about by you listing the company. Thank you very much.
The meaning of listing the company and regarding the scrum, the strategy that we have as a group is at the center of my answer. To us, the investors, we need to show there is corporate value and the fact that we are growing. In addition, our business model needs to evolve.
As I mentioned earlier, Sony Financial Group has Sony Life and other entities which were united historically. These affiliated companies, shareholding companies, came about later on. We are not very much used to having a new style. We needed to identify what Sony Financial Group has to offer once listed and what kind of differentiation it can bring about within the group. In that sense, each entity within the Sony Financial Group has been successful in evolving each business segment. That is important. We plan to continue to do so. The Sony Life business, which is at the core of the financial group, needs to enhance its productivity. That is what we mean by a scrum, which I explained earlier. We have Sony Bank, Sony Assurance, Sony Life Care as group entities. Each of them are trying to do their best to follow this strategy.
I am sure that we can show our growth to our investors through this way.
I would like to take the next question at the very front in the white shirt.
Mr. President speaking. I would like to ask President, CEO, Mr. Endo first, about the domestic market situation, environment. Life insurance, there is the shrinking population, low birth rate, and also the non-life, no more automobiles. For the bank, interest rate is rising. NTT Docomo has released today that it seems that the competition is going to intensify. I would like to understand, apart from the market environment. My second is about earlier mentioned, there was a mention about the overseas expansion, FY2026 or later. When it comes to M&A, are you going to search at home and abroad?
Or if there's any area that you need to further strengthen, or if you do have any ideas of such, could you let me know?
There were two questions that were asked. About the first question, about the market environment in the business that we are in. The second question was related to M&A. We are looking for opportunities home, both in abroad. First, about the market situation, especially in our case. The life insurance, which is a large portion, which is often discussed, is that the Japanese population is decreasing. Against such backdrop for the domestic market, do we need to be particular and stick to the domestic market? Can we further develop the business? That is often frequently asked. As I use the material to explain, in the past several years, the corporate insurance and the corporate strategy has been proved to be successful.
In the past, it was mostly the families and also individuals and the insurance for corporates. This is going to be the starting point to enhance and increase our customer base. We see that potential. If you can turn to slide 19 on the upper right. For the corporates and business owners, for that, it is all about the wealth management. We can expand the wealth management business. For the business and corporate owners, their business succession. For the business corporate owners, for their employees, we can offer and deliver the employee benefits and welfare. As a whole, the population is shrinking in our market, but the strength of the Sony Life can be leveraged in order to further grow our business. First, we will execute and pursue that. In the mid to long term, although it is an issue, the shrinking population.
If you look at the world, there are geographies, countries that the population is growing. We can take our domestic experience as a core to expand overseas. I think timeline in the mid-range plan. Up to 2026, we will focus and concentrate on our current existing. At the same time, for overseas, we will envision and what is being the missing piece and what we can further strengthen that is going to be deliberated in the meantime so that we can execute and realize it in the following mid-range plan. In the current mid-range plan, what are the thoughts, ideas for the M&A? All the time, looking at our business situation, we are searching, trying to identify opportunities and necessary parts as a potential M&A. In most recent years, for just in case, which is a short term and small amount insurance, was merged.
In our growth strategy, life insurance and also non-life only will not provide us with the mobility to meet all the customer's delicate needs. That is why this short term, small amount insurance comes in. We thought and studied whether this small amount short term insurance is a missing part and the just in case project merged. Moving forward in a similar approach, we will take a look. While we want to deepen our business model, if there is an area that we cannot have a reach on our own, it could become an area and target of an M&A. That applies for the domestic business. One other point about the bank. For the bank business, Sony Bank, on the slide deck, on the later pages, 50, let me see, 57, 58. The net banking is transitioning to the digital banking.
The net bank, as is, with a wider customer base, by collaborating with such a company, there is a strategy to expand customer base. In case of Sony Bank, we have the Sony Group. Our service level and the service quality, by polishing the quality and through collaboration with the Sony Group, I believe that a new form of digital banking can be provided. One of the bases is the system. When it comes to the system, slide 57, the next generation digital banking system was just released in May, cloud-based, and all the accounting systems are cloud-based. I think it is the most advanced among the Japanese financial institutions. This system was introduced and launched. With this, we will be able to expand our services and service expansion within the Sony financial collaboration, but also collaboration with Sony Group. As I mentioned, Web 3.0.
The new fintech is what is being envisioned. That was the answer to your first question. The second question, M&A, I think I did cover and respond. Not just overseas, but for domestic, we are looking for any candidates and potential opportunities so that we can further deepen our existing business. In that context, we are searching for M&A. When it comes to the missing piece, it is something that arises when you are discussing or negotiating it. It is not that we do have an apparent missing piece in our heads.
We have only a limited time remaining. This is going to be the last question we can take. If you have a question, please raise your hand. To the very right, second from the front row, the person with a black jacket. You can ask your question.
Taniguchi from Bloomberg News.
I have two questions. Initially, Mr. Totoki mentioned that the purpose of this listing is to conduct fundraising on its own as an FG. I have a question towards President Endo. Are you thinking about corporate bond as a means of funding, or are you thinking about new issuance of shares? That is the first question. Second question, you are using partial spin-off as a method. You will remain within the equity method, remain as an equity method affiliate. Is there a possibility that you will completely be outside of the Sony Group in the future? Is this in your mind, Mr. Endo? You can have a parent listing or cost shareholding. These are being criticized in the market. What kind of communication do you plan to offer to the investors?
Thank you very much for your question.
Regarding the funding after the listing, what kind of methods we would take is not clear yet. We do not have any concrete plans. It depends on the market situation. What are we going for and how? What are the purposes of the usage of such funding needs to be thought about? We will try to find out the best way to conduct our funding. Regarding the second point, Sony Group would only hold 20% of our company, and we will become an affiliate under the equity method. However, we are not under umbrella or protection of the group, but rather we want to create a one-to-one business partnership within an arm's length. That is the type of collaboration that we are aspiring to have with the Sony Group.
When it comes to parent listing and other discussions, our business and the way it is set up is quite different from that.
Now, as it is time, we would like to conclude the session for the media Q&A. The Q&A session for investors will start from 3:32 P.M. Now we would like to start the Q&A session and take questions from investors and analysts. I am Kuriyama from Sony Financial Group. Now we would like to start the Q&A session. Those who are participating online, if you have a question, please use the Webex raise hand button. If you are participating in person, please raise your hand. The staff will bring the microphone. You may ask two questions. Please mention your company name and also your name. In the middle block, the third row from the front, please.
SMBC Nikko Securities, Muraki speaking. I have two questions.
On slide 18, life planner and the JC supporter, there was a plan to increase. Please tell me more about this. There is more intensification of acquiring talent. While maintaining productivity, how do you plan to increase the headcount? Next is about slide 37, about the cancellation risk. How should we view? How are you viewing the cancellation and about the dollar denominated? I think it is not, it is most about the FX, but about insurance in yen denominated, how do you view the cancellation risk?
Thank you for the questions. Two questions were asked. First is about the life planner and also the agent life supporters, agency supporters. Second is about, especially for the yen denominated insurance cancellation. First question, I would like to respond. On slide 18, for the life planners and agency supporters, we have a plan to increase both.
For the life planner, recently the hiring, we do have momentum. It is true that securing the talent is intensifying, but the life planner is now more widely recognized within the industry. As I have been repeatedly saying, the life planner has been providing a consulting service, and it is now widely recognized to be aligned with the customer. It is attracting highly talented people from other industries willing to become a life planner. For example, people from the financial industry, also from other industries, female, very talented, willing to become a life planner. We do have a very selective process. Starting from the screening, I think it is about 30 times competitiveness in order to finally be selected as a life planner. It is a quite strict high level of screening, and we will maintain high level of screening.
Still, the life planner acquisition at the moment, we still do have that momentum. FY2030, the 7,000 is achievable. Also, the same for the agency channel. Excuse me, the agency supporters are also very qualified. If you can take a look at FY2024, it is a decrease from FY2023. This is because some people were poached. The agents, the management, and also the support, also for the agents, we provide advice, effective advice. There are fewer agency supporters, so they are being poached and headhunted. The new graduate hiring is what we plan to increase through internships. We do have a program. We will further fulfill and enrich this program so that it will get more interest, attract students. Also, we have a large population of life planners.
Some life planners, thinking of their career, want to switch career to become an agency supporter. That is also one path that is available, and we are trying to expand. In either way, the life planner and agency supporters require very high productivity. By increasing the number, the headcount, also our profitability will increase. That is a plan. The second question about the cancellation risk at Sony Life, which is confronting, this is a very major issue for Sony Life. Ms. Yamashita from Sony Life will respond.
My name is Yamashita from Sony Life. I would like to respond to your question. About the cancellation, I will provide and explain about the current trend. Sony Life, the past cancellation risk was very low, less than 5%. That continued for long. In 2020 to 2023, it has risen to 7%.
In 2024, last year, it was 6%, a slight decrease. To respond to your question, I think it is not about the yen interest rate. The trend, the reason for the rise in the cancellation, there are two reasons. First is, as it was mentioned, about the foreign currency denominated interest rate being the reason for cancellation. Also, we have the variable insurance at the moment. Because of the higher stock price, cancellation is rising. In 2022, whole life protection type and also the insurance type, we have started the unbundling and we have large scale products. The policy in force, they have switched products and services. That is one reason. With the large new products and the unbundling, this causing the cancellation is going to continue for some time, meaning that the cancellation could be trending at around 6%.
About the yen interest rate, if we look at, we do not see any effect by the interest rate, but as the interest rate is likely to rise, and if that happens, what kind of action could be taken by the policyholders, we still do not know in full. In the future, the savings type product, when we develop the yen savings type product, we do have to be in mind of the cancellation risk. That is the response to your question.
Let's move on to the next question. There is a person online who would like to ask a question from BOA Securities, Ms. Fujino, please. Fujino, sorry. Please. Fujino-san. Can you hear us?
Yes, please. Sorry, am I unmuted? Yes, we can hear you. From BOA Securities, my name is Sujino. I have two questions.
First, it's a very technical and simple question, but regarding partial spin-off. On page 8 of the material, you talk about share buyback, JPY 100 billion. By the completion of that, Sony would have 20% or less stocks in this new company. You will conduct share repurchasing, and it would naturally go up. During that period, Sony would sell the stocks at the same time in the market. Is that expected? That is my first question. Second, regarding the financial services business, on page 23, you talk about cash flow matching promotion. You talk about doing this at a higher level than before. When it comes to cash flow matching, the biggest problem is that 40-year plus liability cash flow without any market exists. You are talking about replacement. Is that possible?
When it comes to replacing them, looking at the current structure, it would not become neutral in terms of economic value. Would it not be negative? This is my concern. I am asking questions about the validity of this method and what exactly are you thinking of doing. I had other questions, but I think I have already asked two.
You asked two questions, yes. First, you talk about partial spin-off and how would Sony's shareholding go down to 20% when conducting share buyback at the same time because that would raise the percentage. How are you going to set the threshold of 20% and how are you going to make this happen? The second point was regarding cash flow matching and how this would be done. I will take that question.
There is nothing in our minds regarding what you have asked, but in the year ending in March 2027, we are conducting or doing a JPY 100 billion level share buyback. This is factored in. Even with this in mind, we have calculated that our shareholding will be below 20%. That is why we made the announcement. I do not think it would exceed 20%. If I may supplement the comment, when it comes to share buyback, of course, our percentage would naturally go up. Even if it goes up, it would still not go beyond 20%. So 17%, 18%, depending on the timing of the spinoff, we will go down to that level. Then we would raise the number through share buyback. Our group's holding would go up to 20% after this dip.
Regarding cash flow matching method, Yamashita-san, please take that question from Sony Life.
Thank you. I will answer that question. As Mr. Sujino mentioned, we will still have the liabilities over 40 years, and that would be a challenge. That is true. Regarding the new policies, the percentage of whole life has gone down. The entry point has already been under control. Over time, eventually, we will see a lower ratio of those over 40 years. We will need time to reduce this. On page 22, you will see other measures which would require a longer time period in order to conduct this cash flow matching. That is our plan. Thank you.
Next, from the right, the person in the very front, please.
From Daiwa Securities, Watanabe, I have two questions about the capital policy.
First is slide 25 about the recent interest rate rise and also with the buyback. I think it will hit the ESR. If 165% below ESR and if 125%, that is a trigger to change a shareholder policy. Is that true? Slide 20 about the mass cancellation, I think you have changed the calculation method. Can you elaborate how you have revised how you evaluate the mass cancellation risk?
First is about the ESR, slide 25, consolidated ESR. The second is about the evaluation method of the mass cancellation risk and how it was revised. About the first question, SFGI site, and the second question from Sony Life, Yamashita-san will explain. As you have understood, ESR, ESR 165%, if it is below, the shareholder policy will not be revised. 125%, and if it is above 125%, we will maintain and uphold the current shareholder return policy.
I would like to respond to your second question. Yamashita is speaking, and the mass cancellation risk, and about there was one stress that 30% will be canceled and that regulation is going to be introduced, and we also apply that, so there is no change to that. What has been changed, revised, is when we calculate the cancellation, I think it is creating more accuracy to the formula, and for example, the cash render value and also the difference, the 30% from the cancellation is the original definition, but when we calculate the liability amount, the hedged portion, we will switch that to the liability, so that is the change, revised change. That is a response to your question.
Moving on to the next question. We have a participant online. Sasaki-san from Nomura Securities, please.
This is Sasaki from Nomura Securities. Thank you for the opportunity.
I just have one question as a clarification. On page 3 of the investment day material, on the right-hand side, you have a picture or a diagram which I want to understand better. You talk about strengthening group collaboration, and you have various specific measures which are planned. If you are using Sony PlayStation, and if we want to buy an item, let's say, can we use a stable coin issued by Sony Bank, and then Sony Bank Wallet can provide us with an exciting experience? That kind of new approach, a color, if you will, of the Sony Group, is that a possibility? This type of monetization, is that possible as a group? Thank you for the question.
Sony Bank and Sony PlayStation and Sony Group collaboration, how is this going to happen? Must be your question.
I touched upon this briefly, but I did not explain in full. On page 58, we talk about Sony Group collaboration at the bottom in the middle. This explains what you just asked about. This is a type of collaboration that we are thinking about in the future, and we are making progress, preparing for such a day. It talks about creator and fund engagement and how we can contribute to that as a group is being talked about here. Stable coin issuance is something that we have been thinking about to pursue unique financial functions that we may be able to offer. Sony Group companies would have a Sony Bank in the middle, and it could provide different functionalities, and PlayStation players could use stable coin issued by Sony Bank as a means of settlement. Yesterday, sorry, we made an announcement.
First, we received an approval to set up a corporation for advanced banking within Japan. It's related to Web 3.0, not just Sony Financial Group, but we can provide consulting services externally. Through that, we think that we can expand this horizon of Web 3.0. We were able to get an approval from the FSA, so this is a new company that we are going to set up. Regarding stable coin, PlayStation users exist more outside of Japan than in Japan, especially in the U.S. In order to provide stable coin in the U.S., we need an outpost in the U.S. We will have a trust company within the U.S., which we have applied for through the Fed.
Okay, thank you very much for those answers. I'd like to take the next question from the block at the rear from the fourth row.
Mizuho Securities, Sakamaki, I have two questions. First is about 2030, about the profit level has been provided and guided, and I would like to ask a question about the level of ROE. If you do have any views, please tell me. The mid-range plan, the 10% is one of the target. As a listed insurance company, are aiming for 10% to become closer to the global peers. Are you going to also target for above 10 in the mid-10s? Is that likely to happen for your company? My second question is within the group in SFG collaboration, Sony Life. At the moment, when you consolidate, or is there any restrictions in collaboration in terms of organization or technology? If there are, can you show in the next mid-range plan how you're going to address those bottlenecks?
There were two questions asked.
Is the view of ROE target for 2030? Also, the second question is about the SFG collaboration among entities. First question I would like to answer about the ROE, the adjusted ROE is above 10%. Our target is to steadily and to achieve, and we are going to put our utmost effort towards achieving that target. If we think of various factors from our risk profile, as explained earlier, the insurance risk is the highest portion, and the 10% ROE is, if we think of our capital cost, it is a level that is achievable in the long midterm. We will be able to exceed the 10%. We believe that we have the potential to unlock that. First, in the current mid-range plan, is to achieve higher than 10%. That is the first answer to your question.
About the second, the inter-group collaboration, is there any organizational or technology restraints? The answer is no. We do have to embark into new territory that we have not done. For example, agents. Become agents of each other so that we can sell products of others, which have never happened because all of the entities have been doing business separately, independently. This may not be about the institution, but when I go and talk with the life planners of Sony Life, it is often said that it has to change this way. We are aiming for higher productivity, and it is all about the life planners. The life planners belong to Sony Life, and they make profit by selling the insurance products. That is not just all to provide all the services that a customer needs.
At least the life planner, as they say they are a life planning, it's not just about insurance. They're not the life planner of Sony Life, but they should be the Sony Financial Group life planner. They should embody that. That is what I say. So the life planner, not just dealing and selling the life insurance, but also the non-life and also the banking services, the non-financial services, all of that must be delivered and brought to our consumers. That needs to happen as a change. I will be saying and repeating and saying there is no current organizational or technology constraints. On page 10, the scrum of the SFG collaboration, at all times, we will continuously try to disseminate the information.
Thank you very much, and the time is up. With that, we would like to conclude our financial services investor day.
Thank you very much for your participation.