Mizuho, MUFG join race by Japan’s banks for money manager deals overseas By Iain Withers and Anton Bridge LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese banks Mizuho and MUFG are targeting buying or partnering with overseas money managers, they told Reuters, joining other Japanese financial companies aiming for a larger share of the global investing market. Mizuho is prioritising a tie-up with a private asset specialist in Europe or the United States to give it a foothold in areas such as the booming credit market or infrastructure financing, an executive told Reuters. MUFG, meanwhile, has identified overseas asset management - particularly in the United States and Europe - as a priority area for potential deals, the company said. The banks, two of the largest in Japan, collectively manage about $1.3 trillion through their asset management arms, largely for local clients. They declined to comment on whether discussions with target companies had already taken place and there is no certainty transactions will happen. Japan’s largest financial groups have become increasingly acquisitive overseas as they contend with sluggish growth at home due to an ageing and shrinking population. The government and regulators are also pursuing reforms aimed at establishing Japan as a leading asset management centre, with the relatively stable fee income on offer from money management proving a key selling point. Nomura acquired Macquarie Group (OTC:MQBKY)’s U.S. and European public asset management businesses for $1.8 billion in April. Insurers Dai-ichi Life and Meiji Yasuda have also acquired or taken stakes in overseas firms this year. 3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads. Mizuho and MUFG’s investment divisions - which offer a mix of passive and actively-managed funds - currently have limited international operations focused primarily on distributing Japanese equities funds. "We definitely are keeping an eye on any potential opportunities... It might be a partnership, it might be an acquisition, nothing is decided as of this point," said Oleg Kapinos, London-based head of global distribution strategy for Mizuho’s investments arm AM One, which manages about $489 billion. JOINING THE FRAY IN PRIVATE MARKETS The Japanese companies could face challenges executing successful deals in an investment industry that has seen many takeovers go awry. There is also fierce competition for prized assets in hot sectors such as private markets, where deep-pocketed giants like BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) are active. "The buying opportunities are fairly rare and when there is an attractive asset it is likely to attract a lot of attention," Kapinos said. MUFG Asset Management (MUFG AM) is looking for "attractive non-organic growth opportunities" alongside growing in the first place its existing business, a spokesperson said. Just a fifth of its 120.7 trillion yen ($818 billion) of assets under management are from outside Japan, the company said. Duncan Gardiner, head of client relations for MUFG AM in London, said the company had grown its headcount in the city - its main international base outside Japan - by more than half to 39 in just over two years. 3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads. ($1 = 147.5600 yen) The fastest way to find out is with our Fair Value calculator. We use a mix of 17 proven industry valuation models for maximum accuracy. Get the bottom line for MS plus thousands of other stocks and find your next hidden gem with massive upside. Full access now available at 50% off while our Summer Sale lasts. Hurry, offer ends soon!

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Japanese bank shares hammered as US tariffs spur fears about country’s fragile recovery TOKYO (Reuters) -Shares of Japanese banks plunged on Friday as U.S. tariffs sparked fears of a slowdown in global growth that could choke off Japan’s fragile economy recovery, snuffing out a decades-long effort to return to normal interest rates. The Tokyo index of banking stocks ended down more than 8%, bringing its losses this week to 20%. Shares of Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE:MUFG) Financial Group, the country’s biggest financial firm, dropped 8.5%. Japanese banks are some of the world’s largest lenders by assets, and the sudden slump was a grim reminder of the global impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies and the precariousness of Japan’s own exit from deflation. After years of stop-start growth and frozen wages, the world’s fourth-largest economy finally appeared to break through its long malaise last year, as prices - and wages - began to rise. In a hugely symbolic move, the central bank raised interest rates for the first time in almost two decades and its financial markets took off. Whether that growth trajectory can continue depends to a large extent on what happens in the United States, analysts say. The world’s largest economy is the main market for Japanese automakers, the country’s economic engine, as well as other industries. "The world has changed, and few economies reverberate these changes as strongly as in Japan. A weaker dollar, and threats of a global trade recession, put a real dent into Japan’s reflation prospects," said Fred Neumann, Chief Asia Economist at HSBC Hong Kong. Japan’s slow move towards reflation - where prices rise rather than stagnate - has been helped, in part, by the strength of the dollar, which has driven up the cost of fuel, food, and other goods and heaped pressure on companies to raise wages. Inflation has now exceeded the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for almost three years thanks to that stronger dollar and corresponding weakness in the yen currency. That has been a vast change from the 25 years ago, when the BOJ fought to end deflation, keeping rates near zero. While some analysts believe Trump is open to negotiations on tariffs, investors appear to be factoring in, at least for now, a worst-case scenario. With fears of a global recession looming, the BOJ is likely to cut its economic growth forecasts and hold off raising rates at its next meeting concluding on May 1, analysts say, predicting the higher duties could knock up to 0.8% off economic growth. But there is less certainty about just how long the BOJ will be able to keep rates where they are given mounting inflationary pressure at home that has drawn warnings from hawkish members of the board. "I think there’s the concern that the trade war has killed Japanese reflation - so in short, it’s an expression of the slow down in Japan’s economy expected to come about because of tariffs, said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at Capital.Com in Melbourne. "Japanese yields have tumbled and the curve has flattened quite a bit, hurting the prospect for bank profits. Add the stronger currency in the air and you have a very negative mix for bank stocks."

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If I’d known as a newborn baby that I’d end up living in Japan I would have begged my parents not to give me a middle name #japanesebanks

So chat GPT just confirmed that Japanese banks are going to be using XRP next year to move money.
#japan #japanesebanks #xrp