Corporate access — the sell-side business of bringing together investors and company executives — may seem a foreign concept right now, when people around the world are being asked to engage in social distancing.
But if any banks can find virtual ways to connect investors with Japanese C-suites, it will be the members of Japan’s Top Corporate Access Providers.
This year, investors picked Nomura as the country’s best corporate access facilitator, rating the Japanese bank highly for its logistics and one-on-one meetings, among other attributes. This is a repeat win for Nomura, which also placed first in 2019’s commissions-weighted survey.
Daiwa Securities Group was ranked second by buy-side voters, followed by SMBC Nikko Securities in third and Mizuho Securities in fourth. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Co. rounded out the top five.
[II Deep Dive: Mizuho, Nomura Vie for Corporate Access Crown]
Corporate respondents, however, chose Daiwa as 2020’s top access provider, based on investor introductions, site visits, conferences, non-deal roadshows, and feedback. The showing is a significant improvement for Daiwa, which placed third in last year’s corporate survey.
Nomura came in second among corporations; Mizuho Securities placed third. SMBC Niko Securities ranked fourth, with the No. 5 spot going to Morgan Stanley.
About 142 investors and 52 corporate representatives voted to determine Institutional Investor’s 2020 ranking of Japan’s Top Corporate Access Providers.
Buy-side responses were weighted based on commissions, favoring the opinions of the biggest users of corporate access services. An additional leaderboard weighted responses based on assets under management, and the top five firms remained consistent.
Other attributes that figured into the buy-side ranking included conferences, reverse roadshows, non-deal roadshows, and speakers. Across all six attributes, Nomura came out on top.
