Culture of collaboration and innovation sees Sony’s captive mark 50 years in Bermuda

Sony’s Bermuda captive has reached its 50th anniversary, with the technology and entertainment giant crediting a shared culture of collaboration, innovation and long-term thinking for the enduring success of the structure.

Speaking at the Bermuda Captive Conference after joining other 25-year-old and 50-year-old captives in receiving Hall of Fame awards, Julie DeSantis (pictured), senior vice president of risk management at Sony Corporation of America, reflected on the creation of PMG Assurance in 1975 and how both the captive and the company have evolved over the past five decades, as Captive Review reports from the conference.

The captive was established when Sony was primarily known as a consumer and professional electronics manufacturer, facing rising insurance costs linked to its growing property portfolio of factories, warehouses, and machinery, plus marine exposure through its global shipping needs.

According to DeSantis, the idea first emerged after a conversation between a Sony executive and an insurance executive in Japan, who had recently visited the US and been introduced to the concept of captives. Sony subsequently engaged in a meticulous study of the idea and determined it would be a good cost-cutting initiative.

The company undertook an extensive review before selecting Bermuda as its domicile.

“When we looked, Bermuda had collaboration. They had long-term partnerships. They had maturity,” DeSantis said. “There was accessibility, there was resilience, operational ease to work with, and they had a reputation and they had integrity.”

To read the full report on Captive Review click here. 

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