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Japan Times
22-07-2025
- Automotive
- Japan Times
Scandals put Japanese nonlife insurers' business model at a crossroads
The nonlife insurance industry stands at a crossroads as it confronts the need to overhaul its long-standing business model. For nearly three decades, since the revision of the insurance business law in 1996, the sector has undergone steady deregulation. A series of recent scandals, however, has brought to light deeply entrenched and problematic business practices within the industry. As Japan moves toward an era of fairer competition, nonlife insurers now face pressure to reform their business structures and adapt to new market expectations. Before the law was revised, insurance premiums for major products, such as fire and automobile insurance, were set uniformly for all companies under government regulation. The system was intended to prevent excessive competition and potential bankruptcies. As a result, nonlife insurers were unable to differentiate their services through pricing. In this environment, companies instead focused on building stronger relationships with customers, sales agents and other business partners to remain competitive. Even after legal reforms allowed greater flexibility in product design and premium setting, restrictive business practices persisted in various forms, continuing to distort healthy competition. In June 2023, it was discovered that four major nonlife insurers had colluded to prearrange premiums when bidding for joint insurance contracts, in which a company secures coverage from multiple nonlife insurers. The scandal exposed a widespread industry practice in which the number of shares held in a corporate client played a key role in securing and retaining insurance contracts. It also revealed that insurers frequently provided excessive services, such as purchasing products from their clients, in an effort to win or maintain business. The following month, former Bigmotor, a major used automobile dealer and repair service provider, was found to have engaged in fraudulent insurance claims. In exchange for being assigned auto insurance contracts with buyers of secondhand vehicles sold at Bigmotor, nonlife insurers provided the company with excessive favors. They included referring vehicles involved in accidents to Bigmotor for repairs, purchasing vehicles with their employees' own money and assisting at Bigmotor's sales events. "Since insurance products lack patent protection and can easily be replicated, a unique and inefficient competitive structure has developed in the industry, making it difficult to eliminate the detrimental practices of competing in areas beyond core insurance offerings," said Satoru Komiya, chairman of Tokio Marine Holdings, during his term as president. In the wake of recent scandals, Japan's Financial Services Agency has repeatedly imposed administrative penalties on major nonlife insurance companies. These measures are intended to push them away from a relationship-dependent business model, which has become fertile ground for misconduct. In response to shifting market conditions, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings is considering the dissolution of its dual-company structure for nonlife insurance operations. The holding company is discussing plans to merge its two key subsidiaries — Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance — which have operated separately since the 2010 business integration that formed MS&AD. Commenting on the proposed realignment, an industry observer noted that with competition intensifying, "the scale of business will become increasingly important in various respects." Japan's insurance market is contracting, driven largely by the declining national population. Furthermore, increasingly severe natural disasters and more complex risk factors are placing additional pressure on insurers. To remain competitive in this challenging environment, MS&AD President Shinichiro Funabiki stresses the importance of "strengthening capital so that a single company can take on large risks." Major nonlife insurers are seeking to differentiate themselves in their core businesses. They are developing innovative products that leverage artificial intelligence and big data, capitalizing on their economies of scale to gain an edge in the market. To strengthen the price competitiveness of their products, expand overseas operations and invest in new fields, companies will need significant capital, a reallocation of human resources and enhanced business efficiency. Tokio Marine aims to "strengthen its ability to provide solutions in areas such as disaster preparedness and mitigation that other nonlife insurers cannot easily replicate," Komiya said. More than a quarter century after the insurance industry was liberalized through legislative reforms, Japanese nonlife insurance companies are finally taking meaningful steps toward genuine competition.
Forbes
23-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How This 'Tax Exile' Embraced AI And Became A Billionaire
'T here's an old story about the Rolling Stones being tax exiled in France,' billionaire Phil Shawe, 55, says by video call from a white-walled office in Puerto Rico, the tropical sun peeking through the shutters. 'I am tax exiled in Puerto Rico.' Shawe affectionately calls Puerto Rico the 'one legitimate tax haven' in the U.S. He relocated to the island in 2018—the same year he won total control of his translation and language services firm TransPerfect—to counteract the effects of taxes related to the deal. Now, his primary residence is a sprawling Old San Juan mansion that was formerly home to the French consulate. The move was also a symbolic end to an intense battle between Shawe and his former fiancée, cofounder and business partner of more than 25 years, Liz Elting. The pair had founded TransPerfect in a New York University dorm room in 1992 and continued to own and run it successfully for nearly two decades, even after she married someone else. Around 2011, though, things turned ugly, leading to legal battles in two states and lots of nasty allegations (battery by high heel, theft, break-ins). At various points, Shawe and Elting both wanted to buy each other out, but couldn't agree. 'Dysfunctional' was what a Delaware judge called the former lovers' relationship—just before he ordered the company's sale at a public auction in 2016. Elting declined to comment; Shawe underlined the company's financial success that year: 'By no measure was it dysfunctional … And the system that forced [TransPerfect] to spend $250 million in legal fees to run a forced unprecedented sale process is the one that is dysfunctional.' More than a dozen bidders competed over four rounds to buy TransPerfect. It came down to three finalists: Shawe, Blackstone (in conjunction with Elting) and private equity firm H.I.G. (which owns TransPerfect competitor Lionbridge). Shawe won with a $385 million for the 50% he didn't own, valuing TransPerfect at $770 million. Since taking over, Shawe has nearly doubled TransPerfect's revenue to $1.2 billion in 2024 in part via acquisitions, buying up nine companies for $40 million in just the last year; he's also succeeded by pushing into the AI realm. TransPerfect is using the technology in conjunction with humans to translate sensitive information and adapt content like websites to other languages and cultures (a service called localization). The company translates more than 7 million words a day on behalf of its hundreds of customers—including Microsoft, P&G, United and Pfizer. According to Katherine Zinger, senior program manager at Microsoft, TransPerfect's GlobalLink program, which automates multinational businesses' process of translating content like websites into different languages, has helped reduce costs for such work by around 30%. Profit margins in the industry are thin, roughly 7%, per Shore Capital analyst Katie Cousins. TransPerfect declined to provide specific profitability figures; as a private company, it isn't required to, but one of its financial advisors told Forbes that its margins are higher than the industry's average. Shawe has bigger plans and promoted longtime employee and potential successor Jin Lee as co-CEO last year to help him take the company to another level. Forbes estimates that TransPerfect—owned 99% by Shawe and 1% by his mother—is worth around $1.8 billion, 2.3 times its value at the time of the auction. He thinks it's worth even more: 'I'd be a billionaire twice over if I sold the firm, but I don't have any intention to sell the firm. Thirty-two years in, and I'm still working pretty hard.' T he earliest days of the company were exhilarating. Shawe and Elting were business students at NYU when they started the translation service out of Shawe's dorm room, bootstrapping the company with savings and credit card debt. Putting in 100-hour weeks, the then-couple created a network of freelancers to translate documents faster and better than competitors. The company grew quickly. They only took outside investment once, but later bought out the investors. 'We liked the freedom, being able to focus on the long-term vision and the lack of other decision makers,' Elting previously told Forbes . Even as the pair's relationship grew rancorous, the company kept growing, reaching revenue of just over $700 million in 2018. While Shawe was relieved when he finally got full control of the company, he was not happy buying it at auction, which he calls 'tax-stupid' and an 'unfair tax burden.' That's when he hightailed it to Puerto Rico. The U.S. territory has tax advantages that allow certain individuals—those who have relocated to the island in the last decade, donate $10,000 a year to a local nonprofit and establish residency, all of which applied to Shawe—to avoid taxes (including federal ones) on capital gains, dividends or interest. As four Congresspeople wrote in a 2023 letter, they are 'tax benefits that Americans could not obtain anywhere else in the world.' Shawe also reincorporated TransPerfect in Nevada in 2018, due to his growing frustration with the Delaware Court of Chancery, where he says he faced hundreds of millions in attorney's fees connected to the TransPerfect litigation that 'put the company at risk.' It's part activism, part revenge campaign: Shawe has sued attorney Robert Pincus, the custodian in the TransPerfect sale, at least three times—mostly over legal fees related to the sale—and appealed the rulings more than a dozen times between 2017 and 2024. (Most have been dismissed and in judgments as recent as last week; Pincus declined to comment.) Shawe was also the biggest donor to Delaware politics in 2024, giving more than $1 million to a political action committee and helping get the state's current governor elected. Further, he solely funds advocacy organization Citizens for Judicial Fairness, aimed at making the chancery court more transparent—and less powerful. H istorically, translation companies have been 'smaller mom and pop businesses' where it's difficult to 'achieve the scale to be attractive to public markets,' says one of TransPerfect's financial advisors. But lately a handful of companies have been grabbing more of the market including RWS, California-based private company LanguageLine and TransPerfect, the three industry leaders. TransPerfect now has 10,000 employees across 50 countries—up from 5,000 in 2018—who help translate everything from legal documents and patents to marketing materials and signage. Longtime employee Kris Marrero, senior vice president of production, says many staffers are extremely loyal to Shawe, crediting him for creating a unique culture that includes annual 'Avengers' strategy meetings that bring together top executives—held at locales ranging from Buddhist temples in Bhutan to waterfalls in Iceland. 'Phil says to us, 'Never make somebody do a job that you wouldn't do yourself,'' Marrero says. 'When I was an early manager, [I had] a backlog of projects and Phil came to my office and helped me work through them one by one.' Senior vice president of tech operations Joe Campbell recalls Shawe cold-calling linguists at 2 a.m. for assistance on a big translation project. Campbell, who has been at the company for 14 years, says he shared an office with Shawe for about a decade. He says Shawe doesn't like to have his own office in part because he likes to mentor people and have them sit in an office with him. Not everyone gives such glowing reviews. There are hundreds of reviews on Glassdoor complaining about low pay and long hours. 'Our compensation structure conforms to or exceeds the norms for each market,' Shawe wrote in an email to Forbes . 'TransPerfect staff worldwide are properly and fairly compensated.' Plus former TransPerfect employees filed a class action suit in 2019, alleging that the company failed to pay overtime wages; it included the 'hundreds' of employees paid less than $1,125 a week in TransPerfect's New York offices. (That's less than the minimum that they'd have to be paid to be exempt from overtime pay). Shawe, not one to stay out of the courts, sued the lawyer representing the class, Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, for defamation in May 2024. Frei-Pearson told Law360 that TransPerfect undertook 'intentional' wage theft, adding that 'instead of resolving this straightforward wage and hour case, TransPerfect has used every trick in the book to delay the day when it is forced to pay the workers it victimized.' Shawe sued again in February, this time for trademark infringement, accusing Frei-Pearson's firm of using a badly-altered version of TransPerfect's trademark in materials used to recruit additional members of the class. Frei-Pearson didn't respond to a request for comment. Both cases are ongoing. Shawe claims the class action is about attorney fees and says he won't settle despite negligible damages because he does not believe TransPerfect 'did anything wrong' and that doing so would bring 'more frivolous litigation.' It faces another class action stemming from a lawsuit initially filed in 2022 by a former contractor in California. The former contractor accuses TransPerfect of misclassifying her—and 'more than 100 putative class members'—as independent contractors and failing to provide 'timely payment,' overtime and rest breaks. ' The good news is, I have a lot of lawyers,' Shawe says—adding that those same lawyers could help Forbes access the court transcripts faster and cheaper. More than in almost any other industry, AI—particularly the rise of machine translation—has affected language services outfits, which began adopting the technology around a decade ago. Still, there's a difference between a company like TransPerfect and something like Google Translate, Shawe explains. With the latter, 'you basically give up the rights to whatever is in that document and Google is allowed to publish that document publicly, or use it to index.' In contrast, TransPerfect's customers include firms that have a great need for confidentiality and accuracy, including the U.S. Departments of Justice, Energy and Homeland Security and pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences. Depending on the client, employees still review almost all of TransPerfect's work. Shawe has been taking advantage of the AI boom by snapping up small companies in new areas. Among them: simultaneous interpretation platform TheSpeech and Switzerland- and Germany-based language services company The Apostroph Group. Shawe, who claims he reinvests most of the firm's profits back into the company rather than paying himself dividends, says he has still around $200 million set aside to acquire more. TransPerfect has also been working with Microsoft to pilot some new AI products, for example, says Zinger, and it's been casting about internally for other business opportunities. 'Translation is facing headwinds—mainly because more and more projects are suitable for automated solutions,' Shawe wrote. A ccording to Shawe, the company's fastest-growing lines of business include over-the-phone interpreter TransPerfect Connect, data collection and annotation arm DataForce and the electronic discovery subsidiary of TransPerfect Legal Solutions. The latter two—both of which are doing well, bringing in $49 million and $125 million in 2024 respectively—underscore Shawe's emphasis on internal innovation. For instance, DataForce, which employs contractors from around the world to help anyone from autonomous vehicle firms to pharma companies collect and label the data needed to train their specialized AI models, has evolved thanks to ideas at TransPerfect's annual hackathon. Meanwhile, the legal solutions business came about after Shawe learned that some customers weren't happy with their existing electronic discovery providers (the process of collecting and sharing electronic information in lawsuits). So it created its own. In Shawe's words: 'Cannibalize yourself. If you can bring a better solution by bringing a technology solution to them, even if it's going to mean a decrease in your services revenue, you bring it. Because if you don't, someone else will.' 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Associated Press
22-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
IMA Expands Competency Framework for Accounting and Financial Professionals
Ensures practitioners remain trusted strategic business partners who safeguard and create value MONTVALE, NJ / ACCESS Newswire / June 22, 2025 / IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants), today announced at the annual IMA Accounting and Finance Conference the expansion of its industry-leading Competency Framework. This blueprint defines professional needs, develops relevant solutions, and delivers the education, certification, skills development, research, and insights that empower management accountants and financial professionals in business to succeed. The expanded framework inclusively builds on the current domains and responds to evolving realities, ensuring practitioners remain trusted strategic business partners who safeguard and create value. The new framework expands to include skills that have become essential in today's business environment. These broader, cross-functional skills are critical for finance and accounting professionals to succeed as the profession evolves. These skills also help IMA connect with professionals in related fields, such as data analysis, business operations, information technology, and project management, who work closely with finance teams and share similar goals and challenges. 'The IMA Competency Framework is a fresh, future-ready blueprint designed to guide your growth and development. It's built to reflect where accounting and finance are going, not just where they've been, and the skills and competencies required for success. It's about giving professionals the confidence and clarity to own their next move and the knowledge and tools to prove it,' said Michael DePrisco, President & CEO, IMA. Harnessing the organization's legacy of innovation, this new blueprint reinforces the critical role and the evolving skills of the profession and builds its offerings around those insights. From technical fluency to strategic leadership, IMA's offerings reflect the core capabilities needed to succeed in today's roles-and tomorrow's careers. This framework is ideally suited for businesses and enterprises, where IMA programs are built on a dynamic model of competencies required across finance and accounting roles, making learning aligned, scalable, and tied directly to business impact. The expanded framework details each domain and embedded competencies. It offers practical guidance for professionals, employers, organizations of varying sizes, industries, educators, and regulators. More details will be provided at this year's IMA Conference during the panel discussion: 'Bridging Knowledge & Practice: The IMA Management Accounting Competency Framework as a Guide for the Future,' on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, and the Accounting Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, August 2-6, 2025. About IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) IMA® is one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the CMA® (Certified Management Accountant), CSCA® (Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis), and FMAA™ (Financial and Managerial Accounting Associate) certification programs, continuing education, networking, and advocacy of the highest ethical business practices. Twice named Professional Body of the Year by The Accountant/International Accounting Bulletin, IMA has a global network of about 140,000 members in 150 countries and 200+ professional and student chapters. Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., USA, IMA provides localized services through its six global regions: The Americas, China, Europe, Middle East/North Africa, India, and Asia Pacific. For more information about IMA, please visit CONTACT: IMA News Bureau [email protected] SOURCE: IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) press release
Forbes
18-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Profitable Husband: Supporting The Rise Of Women-Led Businesses
Written by Willow Kai, Advisor + CMO of Becca Luna Education. getty The business landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade, with women entrepreneurs emerging as a powerful force in the market. In fact, data shows that women (who own approximately 39.1% of all businesses) are consistently outpacing market growth and adding millions of jobs. With this entrepreneurial shift comes an inevitable evolution in spousal dynamics. The way partners support their significant others in business ventures and family-building requires a new framework—one that extends beyond traditional gender roles and embraces a more fluid approach to leadership both in the workplace and at home. Husbands of powerful women are stepping into roles that would have been labeled "untraditional" just a generation ago. These men take on greater domestic responsibilities, become strategic business partners and provide emotional support that enables their wives to thrive professionally. This is supported by data that shows an increase in the number of women who earn the same, if not more, than their husbands. The shift in business and household dynamics represents the new "traditional" family structure, where being a "profitable husband" extends far beyond being the primary breadwinner. Continuing the rise of a new wave of feminism in the 2010s, which saw many cultural expectations shift, in 2025, men are finding a new place on the spectrum—one that allows them to lead, support and hold space in powerful, healthy ways without diminishing their masculinity or their partner's autonomy. Take my example. My wife's successful company began as a series of calculated sacrifices made from a 400-square-foot apartment. While she was building the design studio that would eventually evolve into a successful education brand, I accepted an agency job to support us financially—the first of many trade-offs we would make for each other as we continued to grow and evolve both as entrepreneurs and as partners. For us, marriage, much like business, is about pragmatic partnership without egos or rigid gender roles. This collaborative approach has proven to be not just personally fulfilling but financially advantageous. In 2025, women are outpacing and outearning men in several major sectors and cities. While some resist the idea that traditional gender roles are becoming increasingly outdated, I see those who embrace becoming well-rounded, supportive partners as the ones thriving in this new landscape. Support extends far beyond financial contribution. Today's husbands aren't just expected to be "breadwinners" and passive partners in other aspects of life. They're engaged in emotional labor, child-rearing, homeschooling, household management and administrative tasks historically viewed as "women's work." This shift doesn't diminish masculinity; rather, it should be seen as enhancing a man's value within a partnership, making him more essential, more integrated and more capable of helping the couple achieve large-scale goals with less strain on the marriage. Couples who work together professionally also demonstrate unique advantages. Research shows that couples who work together may be happier and produce better work. A profitable husband isn't merely someone who brings money into the household or runs a successful business. The term encompasses someone who is working to elevate the satisfaction of their marriage and household on all fronts—emotional, practical and financial. The transition to becoming a profitable husband requires intentional action in both personal and professional spheres. Here are some practical ways that you and your partner can support each other personally while maximizing business growth opportunities: The most impactful way to support your partner's entrepreneurial success is to step into the business in a structural, operational or support role. Keeping your own professional experience and skills in mind, this could look like operating the backend systems that allow your partner's products or services to sell more efficiently, developing new marketing strategies or taking on the administrative work that slows your partner down. Practical applications include closing clients for your partner's business, streamlining and automating the client journey on the backend, managing customer service inquiries and fine-tuning operational processes. By removing these time-consuming but essential tasks from your partner's plate, you enable them to focus on their zone of genius and dramatically increase the business' capacity for growth. Becoming a profitable husband means giving both partners permission to defy stereotypical gender roles and capitalize on career opportunities regardless of which partner benefits. This may include stepping into homemaking responsibilities like cleaning, cooking, childcare and managing the administration of running a household. When you take ownership of these tasks, you free up your partner's time to work efficiently without the mental load of domestic management. Ultimately, it's about asking yourself, where can I step in to remove the most roadblocks from my partner's continued success? This push toward supportive, profitable husbands isn't about comparison or competition. Rather, it aims to raise awareness about how a "power couple" truly functions in 2025. Every man can examine his own relationship and ask, "Where can I be more supportive—emotionally, strategically and financially—for my partner and my family?" This self-reflection encourages small shifts that support the long-term success of relationships, careers and business ventures. In 2025, being a profitable husband means being an active participant in creating a life where both partners can thrive—professionally, personally and as a family unit. It's about recognizing that true partnership transcends outdated gender norms and embracing a more holistic approach to success. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Entrepreneur
12-06-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
He Was Afraid to Share Bad News With His Business Partners — Until One Insight Changed Everything
Lynwood Bibbens has learned to lean on business partners and suppliers, rather than trying to put on a brave face. This story appears in the May 2025 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe » On the worst day of his professional life, as his business seemed to be crumbling around him, Lynnwood Bibbens told his team: "Give me 30 minutes." He retreated to a quiet room. He closed his eyes and reflected on his career. Then he returned to his team and said, "We're going to find out two things really quickly. Number one, we're going to find out if our partners value us. And number two, once we find out how valuable they think we really are, we have an opportunity to dream about what we want to be." Bibbens is the founder and CEO of ReachTV, which is now America's largest travel TV network. It broadcasts onto screens in more than 2,400 airport gates, over 950 venues, and 500,000 hotels, reaching 54 million people a month. This crisis in question was COVID, when all travel was shut down — forcing Bibbens to ask his partners, like airport vendors and retailers, to waive the fees they charge to show his programming. (He pays them to host his screens and then monetizes the content through subscriptions and advertising, like a TV network would.) They agreed, allowing ReachTV to continue operating and growing. Related: A Successful Partnership Hinges on Careful Planning and Execution. Here Are 7 Things You Need to Ensure Partnership Success. Why was this Bibbens' first move? Because after building and exiting multiple businesses, he'd learned this: When things go wrong, many founders hide from their partners and clients — afraid to shake anyone's confidence. But Bibbens believes you should run toward your partners. "Tell them what you need," he says. "Then ask, 'What are you able to do? Or what advice would you give me?'" Bibbens discovered this tactic early in his career, during his first major crisis. He was a partner at a struggling mail-order company, and his colleagues wanted to close the business. Bibbens thought it could be saved, so he asked an old college professor for advice. "Call your largest supplier," the professor had suggested. They'd be invested in the company's success, because its failure would be their headache. So Bibbens made the call. "We're thinking of taking some outside investment, or even selling," he told the supplier. The supplier rushed over to work out a deal to buy the business. That was an eye-opener for Bibbens. "Founders don't realize how much value they have," Bibbens says. "From the outside, people might find you way more valuable than you value yourself." This isn't just true in times of calamity, Bibbens says. It's also true in times of growth. "In five of the companies that I've exited, we sold to my biggest suppliers," Bibbens says. "It becomes an easy sell. My biggest supplier goes, 'You're so valuable to me, and we can continue to grow.'" Related: Want to Grow Your Business? Here's Why You Need Strategic Partnerships to Succeed. It's why Bibbens is always checking in with his partners, looking for ways to strengthen relationships. "I'm asking, 'How can we make this even better? What are your needs?'" he says. He offers an example: ReachTV does a lot of work with HMSHost, a major food-service provider in airports. A few years ago, Bibbens was catching up with a few people there, and they said they were trying to organize a live cooking competition in Chicago's O'Hare airport — but they didn't have a lot of event or production expertise. Bibbens perked up. "We're a media company; that's what we do!" he told them. Then he offered to help — ultimately booking many of the participants for the event, including the lead from Hamilton in Chicago. The lesson is simple, Bibbens says: Your partnerships aren't just partnerships; they're the beginning of multifaceted relationships. Your partner today could be saving you, buying you, or growing with you tomorrow. So treat them that way. "We are in this together," he says. "Think about that person next to you as somebody you're pulling for."
