Investor interest in Japan is surging more than a year after tight pandemic travel restrictions were lifted—with more demand anticipated due to a struggling China.
“The Japanese market experienced a revival in 2023 and is seeing a new horizon in 2024,” said Shinji Wakizaka, head of the client relations management department for Nomura Securities. “We had a very active year overall for corporate access driven by built-up demand for investors visiting Japan post-Covid. We have seen a new layer of investors who are looking to rebuild their portfolios from setbacks in China and related markets.”
With all the investor attention, the sell-side firms that connect the buy-side with executives — the business known as corporate access — are under more pressure to deliver this service seamlessly. “Corporate access providers are now expected to be more creative to ensure stakeholder demands are matched in a balanced manner,” Wakizaka said.
Bridging the gap between what the buy-side and their corporate counterparts value each year is a delicate balance.
Both investors and corporates have spoken in one voice this year via the results of Institutional Investor’s 2024 Japan's Top Corporate Access Providers ranking and once again recognized Nomura as the top team.
For the fourth year in a row, more than 179 investors at 140 firms representing the buy-side point of view have ranked Nomura as No. 1 for overall corporate access based on six attributes. Nomura topped three of those (conferences, road shows, and virtual events) while this year’s runner-up Daiwa took field trips and team quality. The honor for the final attribute, logistics, went to SMBC Nikko Securities, which also placed third in the overall ranking. Mizuho Securities and Morgan Stanley rounded out the leaderboard placing fourth and fifth, respectively.
For the corporate view, respondents were asked to rank their top sell-side firms on the following attributes: investor feedback, investor introductions or ad hoc requests, non-deal roadshows, reverse roadshows or site visits, and virtual conferences. Nomura topped this ranking as well and the leaderboard further mirrored the overall ranking.
Despite a more open Japan post-Covid, both investors and corporates are still opting for virtual options to be time efficient and avoid mounting travel costs. “As a result, stakeholders are redefining in-person meetings to conduct complex discussions or cultivate relationships,” Wakizaka said.
However they facilitate connection, sell-side firms see the future of corporate access as more integral than ever and also ready to embrace the role of technologies like generative AI. “Whether helping investors make investment decisions or assisting corporates in showcasing their various activities, corporate access will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role going forward,” Wakizaka concluded. “There are also areas where leveraging technologies such as generative AI could help improve work efficiencies, allowing corporate access professionals to focus on more high-touch matters. Deeper data analysis will be crucial to understand market trends.”
