A subsidiary of Sony Corporation, Sony Life Insurance, has agreed to acquire a substantial stake in diversified Australian financial services company ClearView Wealth.
Faced with a saturated market and a declining domestic population Japanese insurers have been eagerly investing in North American and Australia markets. Most recently National Australia Bank completed its $2.4 billion life insurance deal with Japan's Nippon Life.
Now another Tokyo insurer has made a move by acquiring an almost 15 percent stake in Sydney headquartered ClearView Wealth, a diversified Australian financial services company with businesses that provide integrated life insurance, wealth management and financial advice solutions.
With a market capitalisation of approximately $7.6 billion AUD, Sony Life is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Financial Holdings which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Sony Financial Holdings and is 62.1 percent owned by Sony Corporation. Sony Life provides various products to its customers including term life, health, nursing care, personal pension and numerous other endowment products.
Personnel Exchanges and Growth
According to an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Sony Life will be represented on the Board of ClearView through the appointment of a non-executive, non-independent director.
Sony Life and ClearView have agreed to collaborate, exchanging the best practice of each company through personnel exchanges, with a view to accomplish the following achievements at ClearView:
- Expand and grow ClearView’s distribution network in the fast growing IFA channel;
- Enhance quality of the strategic advice to be provided by aligned advisers; and
- Increase recruitment and productivity of high quality and skillful aligned advisers.
«We are delighted to welcome Sony Life as a shareholder in ClearView. We believe they will be able to bring significant experience to ClearView as we look to continue to grow our business,» said Simon Swanson, Managing Director, ClearView.
