Chairman and Group CEO of Sompo Holdings Inc., Kengo Sakurada, has announced that the company plans to issue social bonds. In March, the company submitted a shelf registration statement and an amended shelf registration statement for a corporate bond to the Kanto Local Finance Bureau to prepare for the issuance.
The issuance of a social bond is a first for Sompo Holdings, as well as any insurance group company in Japan.
Japan has seen an increase in the number of elderly requiring nursing care. The gap between supply and demand of human resources who are equipped to handle nursing care is expected to widen, hence there is a need to resolve social issues like the shortage of financial resources for long-term care insurance and the shortage of labour on the nursing care front lines.
Sompo Holdings entered the nursing care field in 2015, and since has been providing nursing care services as a full-line operator, from home care to facility care. The insurer is currently working to build a data platform for security, health and wellbeing as a new stage in the nursing care and seniors business.
Sompo Holdings has also acquired all shares in ND Software Co., Ltd. which has now been converted into a complete subsidiary. The decision to issue social bonds was part of the funds for this acquisition. Along with its partnership with ND Software, Sompo Holdings will further develop nursing care RDP and promote the digital transformation of the nursing care industry.
The Sompo Group’s aim with these social bonds is to provide solutions for healthy and happy lives to its multi-stakeholders while making contributions to a sustainable ageing society.
