Q&A with Akira Yamashita and Satoshi Shimasaki from Partners Life
We’ve had the pleasure of talking to Akira Yamashita, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Satoshi Shimasaki, Deputy Chief of Finance who were both integral to the sale of Partners Life to Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc.
Q&A with Akira Yamashita Partners Life Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Could you outline the path your career has taken?
I joined Dai-ichi Life over 25 years ago. I have worked in various companies and countries but I have always worked for the Dai-ichi Life group. My career started in the sales branch office where I was part of the sales promotion team for 3 years. This is where I learned the basics of insurance sales activity. For the next 5 years, I worked as an economist. I forecasted the upcoming economic conditions and researched and analysed certain economic topics. This gave me good experience and the skill set to understand macro-economic insights which is still useful for me when considering various strategies.
In the last 20 years, I’ve been engaged in overseas (from Japan) business. This started from New York for 3 years as corporate administrator, Mumbai (India) for 4 years as the head of financial planning & budget control, Sydney (Australia) for 4 years as manager of the Finance team to support the implementation of strategic initiatives and development of a sound business plan. I also spent time in the head office in Tokyo working on the preparation and implementation of further global governance structure development. In addition, I established an intermediate holding company to create strategic proposals for both the business and talent strategies.
Now I am here in Auckland as Deputy CEO of Partners Life, to bridge the various interactions/relationships between shareholder “Dai-ichi Life Holdings” and Partners Life.
What attracted you to the insurance industry?
I want to spend my working days feeling fulfilled from being engaged with helping people. There are many jobs that can provide this, but I believe more in the business that can provide support in a timely manner when people are struggling or need help. What I like about the Life Insurance industry is that people’s lives might move along with nothing to worry about, but life insurance comes into play when they suffer financially if the person responsible for the household income and expenses has fallen ill or died. Also, these days I’ve found that “health and wellbeing” initiatives are an attractive addition by industry players.
Tell us about your time at Partners Life so far.
It has been almost half a year since I joined Partners Life. I still feel fresh to this organisation and excited to catch up and try new things. The operating and management style of the company is very efficient and effective overall, and this could be worth sharing with our Dai-ichi group companies.
How would you describe the culture at Partners Life?
The decisions we make are always based on “Do the right thing”, which is one of our corporate values. People in Partners Life use their energy to help provide the appropriate outcome to our client, rather than just aiming for our company growth. There is no strong hierarchy but a flat open forum to discuss and decide things, and I see this as a strength of this organisation.
What is one thing you wish someone had told you when you were younger?
No one had told me how much our daily lives would be driven by technology, such as online transactions, and AI coming in to play. I would have been grateful if someone had told me to study science when I was considering my major in university.
Q&A with Satoshi Shimasaki Partners Life Deputy Chief of Finance
Could give us an overview of your career to date?
I’m currently working for the Post Merger Integration at Partners Life, as a liaison officer. Before joining Partners Life, I was the head of M&A at Dai-ichi Life Holdings, responsible for strategic planning and executing M&A in overseas business.
I started my career in international legal practice. After experiencing an internship program at Prudential Financial (US), where I learned the US life and annuity operation, I joined the Planning and M&A team at Dai-ichi HQ. As a core member of the transaction team, I helped achieve multiple deals. My role in the early days was legal/documentation and negotiation, then I gradually expanded my playing field to accounting, finance, and finally, entire project management. I was one of the three negotiation members of Dai-ichi’s iconic M&A in the US back in 2014, and after completing that I spent three years with the M&A team of the US subsidiary. I have a strong connection with the Australian subsidiary’s transaction team, with whom I accomplished two joint M&As in Australia recently. I graduated magna cum laude from Columbia Business School in 2017.
What attracted you to the insurance industry?
While I was at university, the insurance industry seemed to be complicated and this stimulated my passion.
Tell us about your time at Partners Life so far.
Since day one, I’ve been enjoying working with my amazing colleagues. Personally, I love being in Takapuna, which is far different from where I came from (Tokyo & New York).
How would you describe the culture at Partners Life?
Always restless and generous by nature, as shown in the company values. It is like a Cessna plane with a jumbo jet engine.
What is one thing you wish someone had told you when you were younger?
Make a side trip on the way. Don’t rush. Detours sometimes make your life better.
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