Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, Inc. Managing Executive Officer, Executive Officer and CISO, Masatomo Yoneyama

"Creating the future by combining good old technology with new technology."

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, Inc. Executive Managing Director and CISO
Director and Managing Executive Officer of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited　Manabu Yoneyama(Yoneyama Manatomo)

■ Profile
He joined Sumitomo Trust Bank (now Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank) in 1991 and has held key positions in a wide range of fields, including overseas postings, systems development, and corporate planning. In 2017, he became the head of the Business Management Department, and later promoted digital strategy as the first head of the Digital Planning Department. In 2019, he became the head of the Corporate Planning Department, and in 2021, he became a Director and Managing Executive Officer (current position). In 2024, he was appointed Executive Vice President, Executive Officer, and CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, Inc.

The job of a trust bank is "to create things, to design systems that will help our clients utilize the valuable assets entrusted to them," says Manabu Yoneyama, Managing Director of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, Inc. We spoke with Yoneyama about the structure of trusts, current new digital initiatives, and future prospects.

■The reason I joined the company was because I was interested in manufacturing in the financial world.

A trust bank is a business that accepts assets and other assets from customers, manages, maintains, and administers them appropriately, and returns them to those who will benefit from them. The person who entrusts the assets to the bank is called the "trustor," the person who receives and manages the assets is called the "trustee," and the person who receives the benefits is called the "beneficiary."
For example, when a company's human resources department introduces its own pension system for employee benefits, it becomes complicated and difficult to manage on its own, so the "pension trust" is started by consolidating the pension systems that the human resources department was responsible for into a trust business. At this time, we design the optimal pension system for the company and its employees. In other words, finance is not just about intermediating money; system design plays a very large role. The ability to package various financial functions into one product and create products is an important aspect of trust banks that ordinary banks do not have.
I studied economics, but originally wanted to study science and was interested in manufacturing. Manufacturing within the economics field is difficult, so when I thought about finding a job, I felt that trust banking was an industry that was very close to manufacturing. My main motivation for joining the company was that I thought that manufacturing within the financial field would be more rewarding and interesting.

■The functions of a trust are to "support decision-making" and "provide appropriate options"

When people ask me, "What is a trust?" I answer, "The function of a trust is to support decision-making and provide appropriate options." We manage and administer trust assets according to the client's predetermined objectives. This means that clients must consider a wide range of options and have an infinite number of choices. However, since most clients are not professionals, even if they are presented with a list of options, they may not understand. Therefore, it is important for us, as experts, to present the optimal options and encourage them to move forward to the next step. While advice from experts with detailed knowledge of various systems is necessary, the decision is ultimately up to the client. Therefore, the decision-making support function is a crucial element of trusts. Furthermore, having 20 or 30 options can be confusing. Three to five options is appropriate. I believe that a major function of a trust is to provide a range of options that are tailored to the client's needs. Seeing the client's hands directly and receiving feedback from clients and colleagues within the company is rewarding and fulfilling.

■ Transform what exists today through digital technology

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group is a company with a long history, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Because the financial industry has very long product life cycles, we have to preserve traditional systems that are in place for 30 years or so. As a result, very old systems and technologies are still in use today. Our biggest theme right now is how to modernize these old technologies by utilizing new digital technologies, and how to fit them into our business operations based on cutting-edge technology.
A characteristic of trust banks is that they design original systems for each company and individual, which can result in small quantities of a wide variety of products. While mass-consumed and mass-produced items are easy to systematize, systematizing products that are only available in small quantities can be difficult. This means that trust banking businesses can reach processing limits if they do not utilize IT effectively. In fact, for certain products, for corporate clients, investment profitability is only possible for companies with around 1,000 employees, and we were unable to cover these needs due to the limited size. However, by utilizing a cloud environment, we were able to reuse only the components and reduce costs. By reducing the size of the system and lowering the employee count hurdle to 300, 100, or even 10 employees, we believe we can "democratize trust services" and provide services. This is our current challenge.

■ Preserve traditional techniques while appropriately utilizing new technologies

All clerical work is visually checked by humans at the end, ensuring extremely high quality. This results in 99.99% accuracy. Customers feel reassured by the absence of errors. Japanese people's sensitivity to service and their high expectations for quality are among the highest in the world. For example, using recognition AI such as OCR, we can achieve accuracy of around 99%. However, when done by humans, accuracy is only 99.99% and people often describe it as "what is this? It's completely useless." This is the limit of recognition AI. That's why the emergence of generative AI last year had such a huge impact. Generative AI can read data by analogy, drawing on the experience of veterans, and I believe it can improve accuracy to a level that is acceptable to customers. It's the final mile of the solution. You wouldn't want the numbers in your bankbook to be wrong, would you? I believe there's a certain element of safety and security in the financial industry. Even now, parts of our business that require strict accuracy are still carried out using traditional techniques, not new ones. Rather than discarding old technology, I think it's important to incorporate new technology where appropriate and adapt it to suit your preferences more quickly.

■Towards becoming a globally recognized group

At other major companies, digital talent accounts for around 10% of the workforce, but at trust banks, because we are involved in manufacturing, we say that "everyone is a digital talent." To that end, we have an environment that cultivates digital talent, including classroom learning of basic knowledge such as cloud computing and on-the-job training to develop one's skills. Furthermore, the essence of DX required for each job varies. While it is necessary to hone skills closer to the marketing front where one works, we are focusing on developing digital talent through training and other means so that as many people as possible can handle any field.
What makes Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank attractive is that, unlike other trust banks, we are a publicly listed financial institution that specializes in trusts. As a result, there is no comparison with major domestic or international financial companies. The most difficult question to answer is, "Are there any companies like the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group in other countries?" Therefore, my vision is to make the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group ecosystem into a defined corporate group that is recognized in Japan and around the world. This is a major mission that I have set out to date and will continue to do so in the future.

■Message to university students

I sometimes wonder if a future where older generations with outdated values ​​are at the core of society and running it all is really the right one. When I was in the United States, I was amazed at how working people were retiring around age 45, and how the younger generation was very much committed to shaping the future of society. It's true that the experience levels of a 60-year-old and a 35-year-old are vastly different. While experience can be gained through advice, I believe that experience alone is not important when it comes to making decisions, moving things forward, or moving things forward. Of course, older generations can continue to contribute and be involved in society in areas where they can play an active role, and they need to be conscious of creating new things. However, I believe that the core and key roles should be played by those who are the most energetic and of working age. I urge young people to change companies and society.

Student Newspaper Online December 15, 2024 Interview by Toyo University sophomore Rinno Koshiyama