TOKYO -- Japan's Mizuho Financial Group and Dai-ichi Life Insurance plan to integrate three affiliates with the asset management department of Mizuho Trust & Banking. The move will create one of Japan's largest asset managers. The new company will handle assets worth some 50 trillion yen ($413 billion), including investment trusts along with public and corporate pensions. The merger is expected to be completed in the first half of fiscal 2016, which begins next April. The Mizuho group and Dai-ichi Life expect the combined company's large scale to make it a powerful earnings generator. They also reckon it will be better able to respond to the increasingly diverse needs of individual and institutional investors. The merger will bring together Mizuho group affiliates Mizuho Asset Management and Shinko Asset Management, the Mizuho Trust & Banking department and Diam, a 50-50 joint venture between Mizuho Financial Group and Dai-ichi Life. Mizuho Financial Group will hold a 51% stake in the new company, with Dai-ichi Life taking the rest. The outstanding balance of investment trusts managed by the new company will reach roughly 12.5 trillion yen. Many Japanese savers have been wading into investing, following the introduction of the NISA individual savings account program and the spread of defined contribution pension plans. Public pension funds and Japan Post Bank have also been diversifying their portfolios, which have been heavily tilted toward Japanese government bonds. Mizuho Financial Group and Dai-ichi Life see the integration as a way to make the most of growing demand. (Nikkei)
Mizuho Financial and Dai-ichi Life Insurance are to integrate three affiliates with the asset management department of Mizhuo Trust & Banking, thereby creating one of Japan's biggest asset managers, handling assets worth around $413bn. The deal is expected to be completed by March next year, according to a statement from Mizuho.