Sompo and CIMB Group Enter into a Non-Life Bancassurance Partnership

Sompo Holdings (ASIA) Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings, Inc. (President & CEO: Kengo Sakurada, ”Sompo” ) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a long-term regional non-life bancassurance distribution agreement with CIMB Group, one of ASEAN’s largest banking groups.

1. Partnership Overview

Subject to the execution of in-country agreements, this partnership contemplates growing collaboration over the long term in four core markets namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, where CIMB will distribute Sompo’s non-life insurance products through its branch network.

2. Background

The ASEAN non-life insurance market is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 7% over the next ten years to reach a total market size of USD50bn by 20251. We are mainly expanding our retail business in emerging countries and currently operate in six countries through local subsidiaries and have representative offices in two countries in the ASEAN region. We have successfully achieved a 38% increase in our Gross Written Premium during these two years, which is more than two times higher than the market growth during the comparable period.

In consideration of the future economic growth forecast, we regard bancassurance to be one of the primary sales channels for Sompo in the ASEAN region. Group CEO Kengo Sakurada says “This partnership with CIMB, being the 5th largest ASEAN bank with presence across key markets of Southeast Asia with approximately 1,000 branches, will further enhance Sompo’s distribution network and broaden its customer base. CIMB is a dynamic and growing bank in ASEAN and this resonates well with our ambitions in the region.”

Through this partnership, Sompo Group will be able to distribute its non-life insurance products to over twelve million customers of CIMB Group across the bank’s extensive network of approximately 1,000 branches, as well as via its internet and mobile banking platforms.

Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz, Group Chief Executive, CIMB Group, said, “Bancassurance is one of the key components of CIMB Group’s consumer and commercial proposition, in line with the Group’s direction to grow these segments to achieve the goals of our T18 strategy2. CIMB Group is pleased to have entered into this partnership with Sompo, who is the largest bancassurance insurer in Japan with total assets of USD89.7 billion and net written premium of USD22.5 billion.”

”This partnership will reap benefits not only from CIMB Group’s core strength in distribution of bancassurance products, but also from Sompo’s capabilities in digital technology to drive growth in our bancassurance segment. Having a strong regional partner also facilitates synergies and operational efficiencies, enabling CIMB Group to deliver better value to our customers across ASEAN,” added Tengku Zafrul.

3. Next Step

Our group management philosophy is to contribute to the security, health, and wellbeing of our customers and society as a whole by providing services of the highest quality possible. We will continue to expand our overseas business by providing high quality service to every customer including the potential new customers of CIMB Group.

About Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings, Inc.

Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings, Inc. is Japan’s third-largest general insurer and is also the leading P&C insurance company in Japan. Its main business activities and product offerings are P&C Insurance, life insurance and other businesses which include asset management, risk consulting, nursing care and healthcare.

Sompo was established on the 1st of April 2010 when Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. and Nipponkoa Insurance Co., Ltd. created a joint holding company to integrate their two businesses and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It now has a market capitalization of USD11.4 billion serving over 20 million customers in Japan. The group has over 76,000 employees and is present in 32 countries and 210 cities internationally.

About CIMB Group

CIMB Group is Malaysia’s second largest financial services provider and one of ASEAN’s leading universal banking groups. It offers consumer banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, asset management and insurance products and services. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, the Group is now present in nine out of 10 ASEAN nations (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos). Beyond ASEAN, the Group has market presence in China, Hong Kong, Bahrain, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Korea, the US and UK.

CIMB Group has the most extensive retail branch network in ASEAN of close to 1,000 branches as at 31 March 2016. CIMB Group’s investment banking arm is also one of the largest Asia Pacific-based investment banks, offering amongst the most comprehensive research coverage of more than 1,000 stocks in the region.

CIMB Group operates its business through three main brand entities, CIMB Bank, CIMB Investment Bank and CIMB Islamic. CIMB Group is also the 97.9% shareholder of Bank CIMB Niaga in Indonesia, and 93.7% shareholder of CIMB Thai in Thailand.

CIMB Group is listed on Bursa Malaysia via CIMB Group Holdings Berhad. It had a market capitalisation of approximately RM41.4 billion as at 31 March 2016. The Group has over 40,000 employees located in 17 countries.