By Yusuke Fukuhara / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Tokio Marine Asset Management Co., a major Japanese asset management company that provides investment funds, is working to better cater to the needs of individual clients and financial institutions. As an affiliate of Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., a major non-life insurance company, it also offers investment products linked to insurance contracts. Kazuya Nagasawa, who was appointed president of Tokio Marine Asset Management in June, spoke about the company's future strategy and goals in a recent interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.
Japanese economy picking up
The Yomiuri Shimbun: What businesses or areas will you focus on under the new management team?
Kazuya Nagasawa: We want to strengthen our services for individual investors. There has never been a time when individual investors have been so concerned about asset building. We want to be able to provide our customers with the best products for them to build their assets. Another (area we want to focus on) is financial institutions, such as banks. An economy with (positive) interest rates is an economy with a buffer, allowing investors to take risks. When it comes to investment, there is strong demand from financial institutions, and we want to thoroughly pursue business opportunities that capture the current trends.
Yomiuri: What is your business strategy going forward?
Nagasawa: We plan to offer a wide array of Japanese stock products as Japan's economy is starting to pick up. Many investors use the Japanese yen to cover expenses such as home purchases, education and retirement. Therefore, it is important for them to invest in yen in the Japanese economy, which is starting to move along in the business cycle, so that they can reap the rewards in yen.
On the other hand, we will continue to strengthen our global research capabilities in order to identify investment opportunities around the world and develop products. We will also actively invest in human resources and personnel.
Culture of risk-taking
Yomiuri: What are the strengths of an asset management company that is affiliated with a non-life insurance company?
Nagasawa: As an affiliate of a non-life insurance company, we have the asset management abilities to meet the needs of large institutional investors. In particular, our major strength lies in our full lineup of products that actively pursue risk.
Yomiuri: What distinctive products do you offer?
Nagasawa: We offer "insurance-linked products," where insurance contracts serve as an investment vehicle. We are the largest player for this asset type in Japan, with assets under management totaling about 70 billion yen. These products leverage the strengths of our company as part of a non-life insurance group.
Since performance is affected by disasters and insurance payouts, this type of asset is not correlated with macroeconomic cycles. The advantage here is that you get a very high level of diversification. It also allows for stable returns and resilience amid inflation.
Bright outlook
Yomiuri: Financial markets have been destabilized by U.S. tariffs, among other factors. What do you expect to see going forward?
Nagasawa: Geopolitically, the world is in turmoil, with countries divided. Even the United States, which has the most influence, is uncertain about the direction it will take. On top of this political situation lies the economy, so there will likely continue to be structural volatility in stocks, bonds and currencies.
On the other hand, when the global economy is in turmoil, Japan's value in the supply chain tends to increase. This was the case in the past, including during the Vietnam War and the Korean War, when Japan's economic growth accelerated. From a mid- to long-term perspective, I believe (now) is a very good opportunity to invest.
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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.
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August 19, 2025 06:39 ET (10:39 GMT)
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