In today’s dynamic global insurance landscape, achieving sustainable growth requires a balance between operational excellence, cultural cohesion and forward-thinking talent strategies.
Over the past year, Sompo Overseas has demonstrated these qualities through its continuous execution of a clear, long-term strategy that integrates local expertise with global ambitions. One hallmark of Sompo’s achievements outside Japan lies in its ability to execute on a carefully communicated plan.
Despite various headwinds, such as market uncertainty, the company has maintained its focus on underwriting discipline and strategic expansion. By embedding this strategic clarity, our Overseas business continues to demonstrate effectively how large, decentralized organizations can drive alignment and growth without sacrificing or compromising local agility.
Recently, we have achieved the following milestones:
Operational expansion:
We opened new offices in Denver, Houston and Miami in the United States, plus Milan in Italy, and Birmingham and Manchester in the United Kingdom.
Reinsurance excellence:
Our business has delivered outstanding results in the reinsurance segment, which is testament to the company’s underwriting capabilities.
Cultural integration:
We work constantly to develop and foster a sense of belonging across geographies for our colleagues around the world, to ensure teams see themselves as part of a unified global organization.
Talent as a cornerstone of growth
In a people-driven business such as ours, talent acquisition, retention and development are not just HR priorities – they are strategic imperatives. Our Overseas business has made significant strides in this area in terms of attracting top talent and developing the next generation of leaders. Outside Japan, we welcomed more than 400 new employees last year, including leadership and business function experts. This underscores our growing reputation as a destination for top industry professionals.
Initiatives such as our “Future Leaders Program” illustrate a proactive approach to retention and succession planning, ensuring a deep bench of talent for the next decade and beyond. With the global insurance industry facing a talent gap due to demographic shifts, we are prioritizing internal development while also remaining an attractive option for external talent.
This focus on talent is not only about meeting today’s needs but also about preparing for the future challenges of our industry, including the increasing demand for cross-cultural competencies and digital expertise.
Leveraging market conditions and brand strength
Sompo’s Overseas growth trajectory has been fueled by both external market conditions and the growing strength of its brand.
Market opportunities:
We have focused underwriting on key lines of business, demonstrating agility and market awareness.
Brand evolution:
While Sompo’s brand is very well established in Japan, we are continuing to make effective strides to enhance our reputation internationally, with brokers and clients around the world now increasingly recognizing Sompo as a trusted, stable partner.
We have also demonstrated that true leadership in this context involves not only responding to market conditions but also anticipating them, aligning capabilities with opportunities, and building a brand that resonates across diverse markets.
One of Sompo’s unique strengths is its commitment to becoming a “multi-local” organization – one that respects and leverages local cultures while integrating them into a dynamic and cohesive global framework. We recognize that to achieve truly global success requires understanding the nuances of all our different business cultures, both in Japan and elsewhere. To support this, we create opportunities for employees to work across geographies, allowing them to share their expertise and experiences while fostering cultural sensitivity to pursue and achieve business and individual goals. Going forward, our aim is to have a globally integrated organization where all our local teams, wherever they are in the world, feel part of a larger whole – supported by shared tools, processes and a unified culture. We believe that by taking this approach, we are best positioned as a business to navigate the complexities of globalization in the 21st century.
Balancing long-term vision with immediate actions
As a business, we understand the importance of balancing longterm goals with immediate, actionable steps. We aim to pursue and leverage quick wins wherever possible in many areas of our business, such as reinsurance, purchasing, vendor management and operational efficiencies. At the same time, we are looking ahead to 2030 and beyond with a focus on talent development, organic growth and strategic acquisitions. We recognize that we are on a journey and, even if the pace and speed of our travel vary over time, we are always moving in the right direction.
In a world marked by geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and climate-related risks, the approach of our Overseas business is both pragmatic and forward-looking. From a risk management perspective, we distinguish between controllable and uncontrollable risks, focusing on underwriting discipline and operational resilience.
We are also always looking to find opportunities within challenges by exploring new geographies, products and partnerships while
maintaining a measured pace of growth.
This resilience, coupled with a commitment to sustainability and innovation, positions Sompo as a leader in navigating the complexities of a rapidly changing world.
Our new SOMPO P&C segment
SOMPO P&C leverages our scale across various geographies through a well-balanced mix of commercial insurance, consumer insurance and reinsurance, mitigating risk by diversifying its portfolio and stabilizing financial performance. The organization leverages expertise from each segment to enhance products and services, delivering tailored solutions to meet diverse customer needs and adapting swiftly to market dynamics. This strategic approach not only drives growth opportunities through crossselling and market expansion but also ensures competitiveness and customer satisfaction. We expect to see the benefits globally where new strategies, ideas and approaches are needed to counter changing demographics.
SOMPO P&C represents in excess of US$30bn gross written premium driven by more than 30,000 employees worldwide.
With a balanced global portfolio of 50% commercial, 35% consumer and 14% reinsurance, we are well positioned across geographies and products to continue our strategy and maximize the potential of our organization as a global community, driving innovation to achieve both our purpose and our strategic objectives more effectively.
Key to all of this is bringing our organization closer together. By focusing internally on who we are and how we function prepares us to support more efficiently and effectively our colleagues and other stakeholders.
The successful integration between our Overseas business and Sompo Japan Insurance is important to better align us as a global P&C organization and to support our strategies. Although we introduced the change on April 1, 2025, the integration process will remain ongoing for some time as we bring our teams closer together and pursue synergies. This structural change is part of our ongoing evolution to remain resilient amid economic changes. It will simplify our business, allowing us to continue to foster deeper connections and alignment across geographies, deliver profitable results to our shareholders and create the best place to work in our industry.
The primary aim of all this is to simplify what we do so we can meet the constantly evolving demands of our customers, wherever they are, both now and in the future.
Conclusion: A vision for 2030 and beyond
Sompo’s Overseas business journey is a testament to the power of alignment, talent and cultural integration. By focusing on people, leveraging market opportunities and navigating challenges with clarity, the company is not only achieving financial success but also setting a benchmark for what a truly global insurance organization can aspire to be.
Our company continues to evolve and our vision for 2030 – rooted in a unified global identity, a deep bench of talent and a commitment to excellence – offers valuable lessons for others in the industry. Leadership is about shaping the future, and Sompo is well on its way to doing just that.
