Good morning, everyone. This is Kentaro Okuda, Group CEO. Thank you very much for taking the time to participate in our Investor Day today. Today, I would like to start by explaining the progress of Nomura Strategy, and the results of our transformations. Following my presentation, Chris, who is Head of the Wholesale Division and Chairman of the Investment Management Division, will provide an overview of the recent announcement regarding the full acquisition of Macquarie's U.S. Asset Management Company, and the future global expansion strategy of our investment management business. Additionally, Mr. Okada, Head of the Banking Division, we newly established this April, will explain the outline and strategy of the division. With that, I will start with the overall Group Strategy of Nomura. Please take a look at the first slide. These are the four main highlights for today.
Last May, we set our management vision for 2030, reaching for sustainable growth. Our specific goals include consistently achieving an ROE, of 8-10%, or more, and income before income taxes of JPY 500 billion, or more. To realize these objectives, we are pursuing the policy of expanding the scope of business from public to private markets and are aiming to accelerate the growth of stable revenues and deepen our global strategy. The first point I want to emphasize is that our medium to long-term strategy has materialized into concrete results. Last fiscal year, which was the first year of our management vision for 2030, each of our three main divisions, achieved growth in revenue and profits, with net income, for the period reaching a record high of JPY 340.7 billion. Furthermore, ROE, reached 10.0%, consistently exceeding our target range.
These results indicate that not only has the absolute amount of revenue increased, but that Nomura's business portfolio, has also improved significantly. In Wealth Management, we have focused on establishing an asset management-oriented business, based on our clients' needs, strengthening our approach catered to each specific domain. As a result, recurring revenue, reached an all-time high, and the recurring revenue-cost coverage ratio also improved significantly. In Wholesale, we have made progress in diversifying our business portfolio, which has led to lower revenue volatility and increased stability. While we are diversifying our sources of revenue in Global Markets, Investment Banking, achieved its highest revenue, since fiscal year March 2017, when comparison is possible. In the Investment Management Division, we are not only expanding our AUM, but also enhancing the value added to our investment management services.
AUM, has reached JPY 89.3 trillion, marking an increase, of JPY 24.7 trillion, in the past four years. Furthermore, due to increased inflows into high value-added areas, our management fee ratio has also improved, despite the decline in the market. Additionally, with the aim of expanding and strengthening our private sector, we are promoting the democratization of private investments, including enhancing the product lineup for retail investors. As a result, our alternative assets under management have surpassed a record high of JPY 2.6 trillion. I will provide more color regarding our specific initiatives and their outcomes later on. Next, I would like to explain Nomura's, future initiatives aimed at reaching our management vision for 2030. Our goal is to pursue sustainable growth.
To achieve an ROE, of 8-10%, or more, we will focus on the following strategies: one, raising the baseline ROE, two, strengthening low-volatility businesses; and three, expanding resource-like businesses, such as the advisory services. This approach will allow us to expand the growth areas while minimizing volatility. In order to grow our business, we plan to allocate resources to the Investment Management and Banking divisions. As a result, the combined income before income taxes, of both divisions is expected to grow to around JPY 150 billion, by 2030. Meanwhile, the Wholesale Division will fund itself to achieve autonomous growth. Wealth Management, will continue to focus on acquiring new clients and responding to the potential needs of the existing clients. In particular, we will concentrate on capturing the emerging wealth segment, which is the next generation of high-net-worth individuals, and enhancing our use of digital tools.
Regarding the deepening of our global strategy, we aim to strategically allocate resources to the Americas, which has the largest market size and the largest fee pool, in order to drive growth. Last month, we announced the full acquisition of a U.S. Asset Management Company, from the Macquarie Group, in Australia. Chris, will provide more color on this later, but the objective of this acquisition is not limited to the public sector. It will also lead to the strengthening of our collaborative framework with Macquarie Group, in the private sector. This will accelerate both our public and private strategies within Investment Management, and establish a solid platform for our global expansion. Furthermore, we aim to pursue growth that transcends business divisions and existing organizations. The establishment of the Banking Division, is just the first step.
One of the reasons for creating this new division is the importance of growing independently as a bank. We will allocate personnel and establish the right structure to achieve this goal. In the future, we aim to grow into a bank that can approach not only Nomura Securities' clients, but also the entire high-net-worth market, a bank that meets the needs of high-net-worth individuals. Additionally, we intend to actively pursue new businesses and growth opportunities, that are not currently part of the existing Nomura Group. While actively pursuing growth investments, enhancing shareholder returns is also an important management priority. Through stable profit generation, we are committed to balancing investments and shareholder returns to continue meeting the expectations of our shareholders.
In light of the start of application of the finalized Basel III rules, we have set a new upper target range for the Common Equity Tier 1 ratio, at 14%, in addition to maintaining the minimum required level of this ratio. This approach will allow us to focus on capital efficiency while implementing optimal capital allocation as we strive to achieve our 2030 management vision. Finally, a strong organizational foundation is essential for the steady execution of our management strategy. In particular, human resources is the most important asset for Nomura. We will further deepen our diversity-focused HR strategy, and aim for sustainable growth. We will create an environment that brings out the best of each employee, fostering individual growth, alongside the company's growth overall. Additionally, we are rebuilding our IT architecture. Through optimization initiatives, including systems integration, we will continuously strengthen the foundation of our business.
Let me now provide more detail on these points. First, regarding the results of the transformation. Last year, Nomura Group, established our purpose of "We aspire to create a better world by harnessing the power of financial markets." Based on this purpose, we set out our management vision for 2030, reaching for sustainable growth. At this event last year, we announced the quantitative targets of consistently achieving ROE, of 8-10%, or more, and income before income taxes of JPY 500 billion, or more. As you can see in this slide, we are taking various initiatives to achieve this management vision. Last year, which was the first year of our management vision, we successfully achieved an ROE, of 8%, or more for four consecutive quarters.
In the fiscal year ended March 2025, income before income taxes was JPY 472 billion, and net income, reached a record high. We are also making steady progress in each of our focus areas. In particular, with regard to accelerate growth of stable revenues, or recurring revenues in the middle of the table, we are proud to have taken necessary measures faster than expected, including the establishment of a new division and the announcement of our inorganic strategy. We have also achieved the major KPI targets, for March 2025, set by each division. The Wealth Management Division, has made the most progress in reforms over the past few years. We have significantly advanced customer-centric sales, maximized client assets, and transitioned to a recurring revenue model. We have high expectations for this business, and in fact, we are seeing results.
For example, as shown on this slide, in addition to deepening existing customers, we are continuously recognizing growth recurring revenue assets in accounts that did not have such assets at the beginning of the fiscal year, as well as from new clients, thereby further expanding our customer base. This trend indicates the further potential of our wealth management business. Moreover, the recurring revenue cost coverage ratio, has risen from 39%, in fiscal year, March 2021, to 67%, by the end of last fiscal year. Going forward, we aim to achieve a level of over 80%, by fiscal year 2030. In addition to our strength in the face-to-face business, our non-face-to-face model, combining digital tools and partners, is steadily enhancing value. In recent years, we have undertaken bold organizational reforms to maximize the evolution of our face-to-face business.
We have focused on core initiatives and established a foundation for true wealth management. Additionally, starting with our strategic partnership with Sanin Godo Bank, we now have five alliances in place. Most recently, in March of this year, we announced an alliance with the Hyakujushi Bank, in Kagawa. We are leveraging the strengths of both parties to create synergies. This has allowed us to expand services to customers that we previously could not access, resulting in a continuous increase in new account openings and asset growth. As a result, client assets have expanded to approximately JPY 3.4 trillion. Notably, recurring revenue assets, including investment trusts and discretionary investments, have reached JPY 1.3 trillion. These banks are dominant financial institutions in their respective regions. The alliance with the five banks that were established earlier has all achieved effects that exceed initial expectations and are progressing smoothly towards future growth.
For Nomura Group, strengthening the investment management business is essential to achieving sustainable growth. As of the end of March 2025, AUM, reached JPY 89.3 trillion, exceeding the KPI target. Over the past four years, we have achieved an increase of JPY 24.7 trillion. Notably, net inflow reached JPY 7.7 trillion. In addition to the increase in AUM, efforts to strengthen high value-added areas, such as private asset management, which raises the management fee rate, led to business revenues, of JPY 163.7 billion, the highest level since the division was established in April 2021. The AUM, of alternative assets, reached a record high of JPY 2.6 trillion, more than six times the JPY 400 billion level five years ago. The Wholesale Division, especially Global Markets, achieved strong earnings in the last fiscal year as it selected and focused and succeeded in targeted scale-up of the business.
We have firmly linked the tailwinds of the markets to our results. Aiming for a more balanced portfolio of products, we expanded not only trading revenues, but also financing and other businesses. As a result, the volatility of daily earnings has improved by approximately 30%, from the average for the fiscal year ended March 2017, through March 2020, and we now have a highly stable earnings structure. By diversifying our businesses, we are able to achieve growth while complementing each of our businesses against market fluctuations. Outside of Japan, we have also continued to reorganize and change our structure. We have maintained discipline while taking appropriate risks and made progress in achieving growth while controlling fixed costs. I believe that the portfolio review undertaken in the Wholesale Division, does not mean we are curbing traditional trading businesses such as rates.
In fact, it is the result of our strategy to increase overall profitability by expanding the scale of various businesses' lines while achieving growth. As a result of these efforts, income before income taxes for the fiscal year ended March 2025, as shown on the right side of the slide, was JPY 427 billion, far exceeding the target of JPY 288 billion, announced at the Investor Day in 2023. Not only will we grow top-line revenues, of our businesses, but we will also continue our constant efforts to control costs, including in the corporate function. International business revenues account, for 47%, of the three major divisions, and international revenues, have increased to 72%, in the Wholesale Division, which conducts business globally. International headcount accounts, for 45%, of our overall headcount, and Nomura, has grown into a global platform with diverse human resources.
Our businesses in each region have steadily scaled up, and income before income taxes in the three international regions other than Japan, reached a record high of JPY 137 billion. Now, from here, I will talk about our future initiatives to achieve our management vision for 2030. This slide shows the strategies and quantitative targets of each division to achieve the management vision for 2030. I will explain our efforts to achieve these key KPIs, in the following slides. We are aiming to achieve income before income taxes of JPY 500 billion, or more on a group-wide basis. To achieve this goal, we plan to generate income before income taxes of JPY 150 billion, by the Investment Management Division, and the newly established Banking Division, in addition to profit growth of the Wealth Management and Wholesale Divisions, which have been our main drivers until now.
Let me start with the group-wide strategy. To achieve an ROE, of 8-10% or more, we will proceed with the three initiatives shown on the right side of this slide. First, we will build up the baseline ROE, as outlined in number one. Specifically, we will increase recurring revenue in the Wealth Management Division, business revenue, in the Investment Management Division, and banking revenue. These are highly capital-efficient businesses. By steadily accumulating recurring revenue assets in the Wealth Management Division, AUM, in the Investment Management Division, and loans in the Banking Division and the Investment Trust balance, the ROE, of the entire group will be raised at an accelerated pace. Based on that, as described in number two and number three, our policy is to expand the overall business while taking into account volatility and capital efficiency.
Through these efforts, Nomura, will achieve further profit growth by steadily expanding its scale while building a well-balanced portfolio. Next, I'd like to talk about the Wealth Management Division. In Wealth Management, we have steadily expanded our revenues by designing an optimal structure tailored to our clients' needs. For clients who prefer face-to-face consulting, we will optimize the number of accounts per partner and provide higher-quality services. On the other hand, there are clients who want to do everything digitally. For such clients, we will enhance our digital offering through apps and other channels. This kind of tailored approach to meet the needs of each client is essential for our future growth. Going forward, we will not only strive to acquire new clients, but also actively respond to the potential needs of our existing clients.
Additionally, we will control personnel costs through the enforcement of a pay-for-performance system and maintain and improve profitability by implementing cost-reduction measures, such as the establishment of virtual branches and the optimization of office space.
In Wealth Management, we will focus on expanding active accounts and acquiring new clients as we aim to establish a dominant brand position in the expanding high-net-worth market, by 2030. We are confident that this high-net-worth segment, is a market that can expect structural growth in the future, in particular by building a system that allows us to closely engage with each client and developing partners with high quality and productivity, including the utilization of digital tools. We aim for growth that cannot be matched by our competitors. Additionally, one area we are eager to expand into for future client growth is the increase of emerging wealth clients.
The workplace business that supports asset formation by corporate employees is a crucial strategy for capturing the future high-net-worth individuals referred to as emerging wealth. We are able to leverage our strengths not only in B2C, but also in B2B. In other words, business to business, utilizing our strong relationships with companies to effectively approach their employees. As the saying goes, "Before you know it, you are a high-net-worth individual." We are expanding the potential for these potential high-net-worth individuals by providing early support and building relationships with them. In Wealth Management, we are evolving our client service system by pairing our sales partners with digital tools, which enhances client convenience and improves partner productivity. This is a result of our collaboration with the Digital Customer Services (DCS), established in November 2022.
Specifically, we are advancing the creation of a system that incorporates online remote consultations at contact centers and manages daily client interactions digitally, allowing us to provide appropriate proposals and information. As of April this year, DCS covers all branches, enabling us to offer additional value to mass self-employed clients. Furthermore, we are actively working to provide advanced financial services traditionally offered to high-net-worth, individuals and institutional investors to a broader client base through the use of digital technology and AI. This strategy, often referred to as the down-market strategy, leverages advancements in technology such as robo-advisors and digital investment platforms, to meet the needs of mass self-employed clients at reasonable costs. Next, regarding the Investment Management Division, this slide shows the focus areas of the division. Until now, we have had an overwhelming advantage in the domestic and public sectors, particularly in Nomura Asset Management.
In addition, we have expanded this area to include private and real assets and worked to strengthen our global platform through NCRAM, which has an advantage in high-yield bond management. With the addition of the Macquarie Group's, public asset management business in the U.S. and Europe, as shown at the bottom left of the table, we will gain a solid platform, in the high-growth U.S. market, which has the largest people in the asset management and the financial industries. We are confident that this will greatly boost our group's future growth. Through this platform, we intend to utilize our private asset expertise globally and to return the knowledge gained in the global asset management business to the Japanese market. In addition, we will strengthen our collaboration with the Macquarie Group, which has global strength in the infrastructure field.
Moving forward, by strategically filling in the blank areas on this slide, we will expand assets under management globally and achieve higher added value. We will build up AUM, including the Macquarie business, to be acquired and aim to expand it to more than JPY 150 trillion, by the fiscal year ending March 2031, exceeding our previous target of JPY 129 trillion. This represents $1 trillion, if the exchange rate is JPY 150 to the dollar, and it means that we will join the $1 trillion club, which is one of the criteria for a competitive global asset management business. In addition, with this acquisition agreement, we now have a concrete pathway toward our target of income before income taxes, of JPY 100 billion level.
We do not intend to pursue size alone, but we will expand our focus areas such as private business, as I mentioned earlier, to increase asset size while maintaining and expanding profitability. The targeted KPIs, for the Wholesale Division, for the fiscal year ended March 2025, as shown on the right-hand side of this slide, include a revenue-modified risk-weighted asset ratio, of 6%, or higher and a cost-to-income ratio of 86% or lower, with the aim of continuously increasing pre-tax ROE. To achieve this, our group has focused on promoting stability, growth, and diversification, which have contributed to the achievement of all KPIs, and the establishment of a platform for meeting our 2030 goals.
Moving forward, we aim to achieve before-tax ROE, of 8-10% of revenue, modified risk-weighted asset ratio, of 6%, or higher, and a cost-to-income ratio, of 80%, or lower based on Basel III finalization. To achieve these goals, we will continue to grow the entire platform while controlling the balance of our business portfolio. To this end, we will enhance our strengths in private credit and equity products, strengthen our global client franchise, and establish a framework that enables scaling without reliance on the size of our balance sheet through the utilization of external partnerships. Through the strengthening of our platform over the past few years, businesses with unique strengths in various regions have emerged. Moving forward, we will further enhance these strengths and expand them globally, maximizing the value of our platform in both client franchise and product offerings.
For example, by expanding our equity products, securitized products, and credit private credit, which have achieved significant results in the U.S., to EMEA and AEJ, we have realized profits in various regions. In addition, through partnerships with third parties, we will effectively utilize management resources to scale businesses that would have been constrained on a standalone basis. For instance, the strategic partnership with Prismic, in the reinsurance sector and the alliance with Wolf Research, in the U.S. are exemplary cases of this strategy. Also, International Wealth Management, is another example of growth that has taken advantage of the existing group platform. In the Wholesale Division, services previously provided to institutional investors have been extended to overseas wealth management businesses, thereby enhancing competitiveness. As a result, client assets have grown rapidly to over $29 billion and revenues to over $240 million.
Toward 2030, we aim to expand to $60 billion and $400 million, respectively, through expansion of our team in Asia and the Middle East, increased coverage productivity, enhanced collaboration with Japan, and cross-functional collaboration. In the fiscal year ended March 2025, the Wholesale Division, significantly enhanced its ROE, contribution through revenue growth, driven by a balanced portfolio and continuous cost containment. Going forward, we aim to achieve sustaining growth through self-funding. Additionally, by allocating more capital to the Investment Management Division, and increasing resource distribution to the banking business, we aim to improve revenue predictabilit,y and enhance baseline ROE. We plan to increase resource allocation to recurring businesses currently at 10% to 25%, by the fiscal year 2030. Currently, global tariff negotiations and other factors are increasing market volatility.
Although the U.S. can be said to be the epicenter of such volatility, the Americas, are the most important region with significant opportunities within our global strategy, and this will not change. Lastly, regarding the Banking Division, there will be a presentation by the Division Head, Okada, following this. I will focus on points that are not overlapping. One of the reasons we created this new division is we believe it is important for banks to grow independently. In particular, a robust framework to ensure thorough compliance and Know Your Customer (KYC), processes from a banking perspective is essential. To achieve this, we will allocate the necessary talent and establish appropriate systems. In the future, we aim to become a bank that can reach not only Nomura Securities customers, but also the whole wealth segment and that can be sought by the wealthy.
Additionally, we aim to pursue new businesses that are not currently present within the Nomura Group. Compared to mega banks, the Nomura Group, is smaller in scale and lacks certain businesses. For example, banking groups in general generate significant profits from areas outside traditional banking such as leasing. We intend to explore how we can approach such businesses. In other words, while fulfilling the role of a trust bank with distinct Nomura-specific strengths, we want to think beyond group boundaries to explore new business opportunities as a division. Within Nomura Group, the proportion of non-securities businesses has been increasing year by year. This is evidence of our efforts to expand our offerings, services, client base, and geographical reach beyond our traditional businesses. We believe that we can create new value by combining our strengths in each area rather than competing solely on scale.
In doing so, it is important to think outside the boundaries of the group. Toward 2030 and beyond, we will deepen collaboration among divisions that have achieved results thus far while expanding new businesses, including banking businesses, to establish a distinctive position unique to Nomura. Additionally, to further strengthen the platforms within each division, we will flexibly consider leveraging inorganic strategies provided they align with our management direction. Next, I will talk about capital policy. As a direction toward 2030, I explained our future business initiatives and investment policies. At the same time, I believe it's important to strike a balance between growth and return in order to continuously enhance corporate value. Prior to the adoption of Basel III finalization rules, we have been engaged in internal discussions regarding appropriate levels of resources and capital, with a view to balancing financial stability, investment for growth, and shareholder returns.
With the adoption of these rules, we have decided to newly set the upper limit of the target range for the common equity Tier 1 ratio at 14%. As a result, we aim to achieve our management vision for 2030, and improve capital efficiency, while ensuring investment discipline and implementing optimal capital allocation to shareholders. At the same time, our basic policy remains unchanged to accelerate growth investments, maintain a high return rate, and expand returns along with profit growth. Specifically, the common equity Tier 1 ratio, which takes into account the impact of the acquisition of the asset management business, from Macquarie, is expected to be around 13%, which is below the upper limit newly set.
However, for the fiscal year ended March 2025, in addition to the ordinary dividend of JPY 47 per annum, we have decided to pay a 100-year commemorative dividend, of JPY 10, and to buy back shares, up to JPY 60 billion. In this way, we will continue shareholder returns in a timely and appropriate manner. Finally, I would like to touch on continued strengthening of corporate functions and organizational foundations. First, I would like to talk about IT infrastructure. We are sharing the structure and operations of IT across the group. This will help streamline systems, improve efficiency, and strengthen development capabilities, creating a foundation for realizing business strategies. Increasing costs for development, maintenance, and operation will continue to be an issue, but we will increase cost efficiency through standardization.
Technology, is the foundation of wholesale operations, and we believe it is important to balance priorities for both BAU and transformation, while maintaining alignment with business strategy. We generate, modify, and maintain a large amount of diverse data every day to effectively manage the business. Based on this vast amount of data, we aim to improve productivity by utilizing AI. Our goal is to use these technologies to optimize operations and achieve more efficient and effective business operations. No matter how advanced technology may be, there will always be value that can only be created by humans. Our diverse human resources and values, are the source of Nomura Group's competitiveness. Based on the belief that human resources create added value, Nomura Group, is implementing a variety of initiatives. First, we are promoting a unique human resource management strategy that promotes career autonomy and the promotion of diverse human resources.
Aiming to become a professional group that continues to create new added value, we are continuing to enhance the expertise of each employee to differentiate our human resources. Our goal is to maximize the talents of each employee and lead to the growth of the entire organization. Nomura Group, aims to create a work environment in which all employees feel that it is the place where they can be themselves and that this is a place where they can make the greatest impact. The aim of this initiative is to create an environment in which the opinions and values of each employee are valued. To create new value, it's essential to respect diverse human resources and promote cooperation within the organization. We aim to create an organization in which people with different backgrounds and skills come together and grow together while leveraging each other's strengths.
In addition, we aim to create an organization in which all employees have the power to grow together and carve out the future rather than simply performing their duties. Nomura Group, is also actively promoting health management. Increasing employee engagement is extremely important. By building emotional connections where each employee can relate with the purpose and the corporate values and take pride in their role, we can build a stronger organization. Furthermore, we promote the proactive suggestion of business improvements and new ideas, creating an environment where everyone can participate actively. By doing so, we aim to create an organization in which motivation is raised and all employees can play an active role. We believe that improved engagement will lead to the growth of both individuals and the organization. At the foot of Nihonbashi Bridge, there is a building called Gunkan Building, because of its appearance like a battleship.
Our company had its headquarters in the Gunkan Building, starting from 1930, five years after its founding. Currently, demolition work of the building is underway, and it was featured on NHK TV programs, Kaitai Kingdom program, the other day. In this project, the exterior walls and the interior of the first floor, which have been designated as cultural properties, are retained while the interior of the rest of the building is completely rebuilt. The exterior remains the same as the historic building, but the interior will be filled with cutting-edge technology. In other words, while making the most of the past 100 years, we will build an internal foundation, that will be unwavering in the next 100 years. This is exactly what we are aiming for.
Just like a Gunkan Building, we have been working swiftly to change the interior of Nomura Securities, while keeping the exterior of the building or organization in order to keep up with the times or get ahead of the times. We will further strengthen these efforts in the future. In addition, we believe that the next 10 years will be a time to break down the boundaries and expand beyond them. We believe that the new value we create will exceed your expectations. Please stay tuned for our challenges. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Okuda. Next, we will have Mr. Chris Willcox, Chairman of the Investment Management Division, explain about the acquisition of Macquarie's U.S. and European Public Asset Management business. Chris, please go ahead.
Hello everyone.
It's great to be back here in Tokyo today, this time in my added capacity as Chairman of the Investment Management Division. Today, I'm pleased to discuss the recently announced acquisition of Macquarie's U.S. and European Public Asset Management business. This event represents a transformative moment for Nomura. In addition to adding significant product and distribution capabilities internationally, this acquisition, once closed, will significantly reshape our global asset management presence. It will represent the first and most critical step in our ambition to expand our international footprint and achieve sustainable long-term growth in asset management globally. Let me begin with the key details of this proposed transaction. We are acquiring the business in an all-cash purchase with a price of $1.8 billion, subject to closing adjustments. This brings approximately $180 billion, in retail and institutional client assets under management.
The transaction is structured to acquire 100%, of the stock of three target companies. Importantly, it delivers a full end-to-end platform, that enjoys high margins and robust operating efficiency. Our strategic rationale, is clear and consistent with what Okuda-san, has described previously. One, we will dramatically accelerate Nomura's, 2030 objective of stable capital-like business growth. Two, we will transform our investment management franchise into a global, scalable platform. Three, we will significantly expand our footprint in the U.S., a market that accounts for roughly 50%, of global assets, under management and of revenues. Four, we will gain a diversified set of strong investment capabilities, and a distribution network, with a set of deep wealth institutional and insurance client relationships. This will create cross-sell opportunities for our existing products, including our home market capabilities, and our own private credit strategies.
The acquisition does not include Macquarie's private markets, business or their Australian public investments business. However, we will establish a broader and deeper relationship with Macquarie, including in alternatives where we will act as a distribution partner in the U.S. wealth space. Most critically, this transaction will contribute positively to our firm's 2030, ROE, target of 8-10% plus. Before deciding to buy this particular platform, we spent probably two years and studied 20-plus potential targets, to find a platform that would be truly complementary to our existing capabilities. Once we started talking to Macquarie, we took our time to make sure this platform was a good strategic and cultural fit for Nomura. We had a long list of very specific criteria we were looking to fill. Some of them are the following.
First, we wanted an end-to-end platform, and this acquisition will give us that with over 700 professionals, across investments, distribution, and the support functions. Second, we wanted a strong management team, and the team coming over is highly qualified, and we are very confident in their ability to take the business to the next level. Third, it was important to us to acquire a platform that was not overly dependent on a single client segment or single investment strategy. This business is a well-diversified business, with AUM, split approximately 50%, in equities, 40%, in fixed income strategies, and 10%, in multi-asset solutions. Fourth, distribution was absolutely critical. The target has a very strong and diversified client franchise with about 50%, of assets under management, in retail, 35%, in insurance, and 15%, in other institutional channels.
Candidly, it would be impossible for us to replicate this kind of market presence organically in the U.S. because this itself has taken decades to build. Lastly, we wanted a healthy platform that did not require a substantial turnaround, not a distressed platform. The target that we are acquiring is a top 30 active mutual fund complex in the U.S., generating approximately $700 million, in net management fees and with operating margins, well above the industry average of roughly 30%. In short, the target ticks all of our boxes. On the close, this platform will provide us with instant scale and market access, in the most important market in global asset management. Importantly, there is very little overlap between this platform and our existing U.S. investment management business. Our investment capabilities are highly complementary to the platform.
I would also emphasize that this acquisition is not predicated on extracting cost synergies. Our aim is for minimal disruption to the existing business. Rather, it is about acquiring a platform of skilled employees with a strong track record and competitive capabilities upon which we can build, first through the combination of our collective offerings and then by bolting on additional capabilities over time. Post-close, we will become a full-service and strategic player in the public equity, fixed income, and multi-asset market. Upon close, our combined franchise will immediately become a top 40 global asset manager, with roughly 2,600 employees worldwide. With more than half of that headcount sitting outside of Japan, it will make us a truly global platform. We aim to build a trillion-dollar-plus asset management platform by 2030, and this platform, gives us the scale needed to create a best-in-class platform over the medium to long term.
We will thoughtfully choose where to invest and how we can build on our combined strengths. We have been a quiet achiever in the U.S., where we are well regarded by clients, but a less known player in the broader industry. With this transaction, we will put the combined business on a much larger stage. Our growth plans center on deepening the client franchise, expanding investment capabilities, and growing our collective business's global presence. Within distribution, we will deepen our penetration with existing strategic clients while also expanding our coverage of U.S. RIAs. One critical path will be identifying and competing for money-in-motion opportunities where clients are seeking to replace existing managers. Next, on the investment front, we see significant opportunity in expanding the business's active ETF platform.
There is a meaningful market growth opportunity in this space, and we believe our ETF expertise, combined with the business's recent momentum will allow us to rapidly accelerate this journey. Furthermore, we see this platform as an opportunity not only in the public markets but also in the growing private market solution space, both on a standalone basis and in packaging public and private market investments together. Finally, we will look to expand our client coverage in other geographies and increase cross-sell opportunities. Eventually, this scale will enable us to make bolt-on acquisitions and add specialist capabilities aligned to our long-term vision. This path forward should allow us to become a truly global leader in asset management. The target has a strong distribution footprint today.
It has well-established relationships with nine of the top 10 U.S. retail distributors, and these account for more than half of the active assets under management in U.S. retail. It is a significant toehold on which we intend to capitalize. We will deepen partnerships with key global financial institutions and invest in enhancing distribution and further expanding into the US RIA channel. Both sides bring a lot of expertise in their domains, what I would describe as home strengths. Thus, you will see us engaging in cross-selling opportunities across each business's home market, bringing capabilities like Japan equities, to the U.S. market and U.S. strategies and private markets offerings, to the Japanese market. Finally, we are very excited to build on the target business's standing in the third-party managed insurance segment.
This market has consistently grown by 4-5% a year and represents more than a $1 trillion market opportunity. The business, we are acquiring already manages over $60 billion, in insurance assets, and boasts an exceptionally well-performing suite of long-term credit strategies. With the right support and resources, we strongly believe it is extremely well-positioned to capture growth opportunities in this space. We view the shifts in asset management flows as a key opportunity, both within active funds as well as between active and passive funds. We aim to capitalize, on these trends through strong product innovation, distribution, and operational efficiency. We also see a critical opportunity in the active ETF market in the U.S., which has experienced rapid expansion with annual net flows, of 20% plus since 2019.
Leveraging our expertise as the world's sixth-largest ETF provider, we will combine strong active management capabilities with the target's early ETF momentum, to deliver innovative products and vehicle flexibility to clients. Our product growth strategy also focuses on expanding our alternatives and private markets presence. We've built a strong foundation in private markets across the group, especially in private credit within the Investment Management division, and we're now well-positioned to bring tailored solutions to our clients in both public and private markets. We will continue to invest in this space and seek out organic, inorganic, and strategic partnership opportunities to deepen and scale our capabilities. One of the additional benefits of this transaction has been exploring ways to extend our relationship with Macquarie, and we have announced a series of collaboration initiatives between our two firms.
We've established a product and distribution arrangement that includes, first, Nomura, being a U.S. wealth distribution partner for Macquarie Asset Management, in the alternative space, namely infrastructure where they have world-class capabilities. To further reinforce our joint commitment to this partnership, we have committed a meaningful amount of seed capital to a range of Macquarie Asset Management's alternative funds, that are tailored for U.S. wealth clients. The second area of collaboration that we have agreed is a number of sub-advisory arrangements across strategies, markets, and client segments that will benefit our new platform on the close. Finally, we're establishing a joint working group between Nomura and Macquarie, to explore further potential collaboration opportunities. Our shared objective is to maximize the strength of our respective firm's capabilities and create tangible value for our clients.
No great institution is built by a single architect, and Nomura's international investment management franchise, will combine senior leadership across both Nomura, and the target platform. In addition to myself, Nomura-san, Robert Stark, the Head of Investment Management in the Americas, and the CEO, of Nomura Capital Management, will be a key member of the leadership team. We are also excited to welcome Sean Little, currently the President of Macquarie Funds and the Head of Americas for Macquarie Group. He will continue to lead the acquired business with his experienced and highly skilled management team. I am confident in the path we are charting, and I look forward to working with this dynamic group of leaders to steer our global investment management division to new heights. I would like to thank you for your time and attention today. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Chris.
Next presenter is Head of Banking, Mr. Okada. Mr. Okada, please.
I am Okada, Head of Banking Division, newly established in April. Today, I will explain the strategy of our division. First, I will reflect on the environment surrounding the banking business as a premise for the division establishment. Regarding the market environment, Japan, has seen a significant shift from a 30-year low interest rate era characterized by zero and negative interest rates to a trend of rising policy rates. Next, in terms of regulatory environment, the government's initiatives of making Japan a leading asset management center, have been accelerated under the theme of shifting from savings to investment. Additionally, there have been significant societal changes, such as the increasing need for asset management services, and the arrival of the era of great wealth transfer between generations in Japan.
These environmental changes are mostly favorable for the banking business, and as we aim to expand our business, we need to respond to interest rate fluctuations and enhance governance. In this context, we believe the stage has been set for us to establish Banking Division as Nomura Group. Against such background, we established the division. I will explain its significance and aims. There are three main points. First is the increasing importance of banking functions within the group due to changes in the business environment. The second point is the division's role as part of our strategy to realize our management vision of reaching for sustainable growth, meaning we aim to strengthen banking business as the fourth pillar of the group.
The third point, is that with our division, we aim to strengthen collaboration within the group and grow as an independent bank while enhancing the management structure and expanding our business. Traditionally, we have gradually expanded the business that are needed by the Nomura Group, and its clients, offering a wide range of low-volume products and services with original and highly competitive characteristics. Going forward, the division will contribute to the expansion of stable revenue, as the fourth pillar by enhancing existing services through collaboration within the group while strengthening organizational structure and governance. Let me introduce Nomura Trust and Banking and Nomura Bank Luxembourg, as the key entities of Banking Division. Nomura Trust and Banking, was established in 1993 with 71 employees, and has now been in operation for 32 years.
During this time, we launched online banking services in 2006 and the Nomura Web Loan service in 2008, and after merging with NCT Trust Bank, we began inheritance services in 2015. In 2024, we launched Japan's first trusted single-party calculation scheme for publicly offered investment trusts, among other distinctive services. Nomura Bank Luxembourg, obtained its banking license in 1990 and has since established the structure for providing overseas investment trust services, including setup of a Luxembourg-based management company in 1991, a Cayman-based trustee company in 1998, and a Cayman-based management company in 2008. In 2019, we established the Tokyo desk within Nomura Trust and Banking, to expand support for Japanese investors. I will introduce the roles of these entities by using as an example the trustee business the two entities focus on.
Domestic investment trusts, are serviced by Nomura Trust and Banking, while Nomura Bank Luxembourg services overseas investment trusts. The net asset balance of investment trusts in Japan, has been steadily increasing, having grown by eight times since the end of March 2002, indicating significant business potential in this field. In this situation, though Nomura Trust and Banking, is a new firm with just 32 years of history, the balance of investment trusts entrusted is expanding far faster than the overall industry growth. To give you a sense of Banking Division's business, let us look back at the results up until last fiscal year. Income before income taxes for the fiscal year ended March 2025 was JPY 16.3 billion, which is approximately three times larger, than in March 2021, and various balances in our focus businesses are steadily expanding.
The loan balance outstanding exceeded JPY 1 trillion, for the first time last fiscal year. Next, I will discuss the characteristics and the strengths of the Banking Division. One of the strengths of Nomura Trust and Banking, is its plentiful know-how in handling securities as a trust bank originating from a securities company. In our core business of securities-backed loans, the ability to manage collateral, which fluctuates in value daily, is crucial, and we are expanding our balances with high competitiveness. Secondly, we offer a lineup of edgy products and services. We have unique offerings that are not commonly handled by our peers, such as Nomura Web Loan and RAP Trusts for individuals, as well as direct trustee mechanism and trustee single-party calculation scheme in the investment trust trustee business.
Thirdly, we have a high level of competitiveness in the investment trust, backed by advanced expertise and high-quality services, holding the third position in the industry. A strength we can leverage through group collaboration is the access to a strong client base, particularly through collaboration with Wealth Management Division. Also, by using Nomura Securities, as our agent, we can stay lightweight without having to have our own branch network, and we can respond to diversifying investment needs by collaborating with Nomura Asset Management, one of Japan's largest asset managers, leveraging our high-solution providing capabilities. Nomura Bank Luxembourg's, strength lies in its experience in handling complex assets such as private assets and real estate. The two publicly offered investment trusts, we launched last year to invest in private assets were made possible by leveraging this strength.
Through the trustee functions of Banking Division, we are equipped to meet the diverse needs of our clients across the entire group. Now, I will discuss our growth strategy towards 2030. Banking Division, has set the strategy to grow by strategically undertaking appropriate levels of risk in markets adjacent to the Nomura Group's, core financial and capital markets. Specifically, we are working on three aspects: client touchpoints, products and service offerings, and systems. Division's KPIs, are outstanding loan balance, investment trust balance, and assets under administration. By 2030, we aim to increase the loan balance, by 2.8 times, to JPY 2.8 trillion, the investment trust balance by 1.8 times, to JPY 70 trillion, and the assets under administration by 1.5 times, to $85 billion. By doing so, we aim to achieve an income before income taxes of JPY 50 billion, by the end of the fiscal year 2030.
Among the three aspects, I will first discuss client touchpoints. Banking Division, has recently reorganized its structure and streamlined its product and service offerings in line with the client segment of Wealth Management Division. In the segment with the highest demand for face-to-face consulting, a dedicated department will provide full support. The aim is to strengthen relationships with clients while further developing the business. As for client segment that has increasing needs for fully online services, a dedicated department handling online loans pursues volume expansion while utilizing digital tools. At the same time, we have raised the loan limit of Nomura Web Loan, from JPY 100 million to JPY 500 million, to meet a broader range of needs, while improving the loan screening function and organization to speed up the review process and enhance the management system.
Also, to increase client touchpoints through the development of new products and services, we have established the department related to real estate business, and we have also created a new department that supports financial institutions and various corporations as a response to expanding businesses such as entrusted asset management. With a new organization aligned with the structures of other divisions in the group, including Wealth Management, we will focus on strengthening client touchpoints through group collaboration and promoting sales and product strategies suitable for each area. Next, I will discuss the product and service strategy. We have laid out a roadmap for future initiatives for banking and trust separately. In banking, we have successfully completed an important project to renew our core banking system this May, which has set the stage for introducing a Deposit Sweep Service. I will explain the details later.
In the loan business, in our PB loan, we are improving existing products to enhance client convenience by expanding collateral assets and methods of obtaining collateral, as well as expanding the use of funds. In web loans, we will expand workplace loans such as RS loans and stock option loans. In trust, we will consider developing and providing schemes utilizing trust for financial institutions and business companies. Additionally, for high-net-worth individuals, we will offer products and services utilizing trusts in areas related to inheritance and real estate. Moving forward, we will continue to focus on client-oriented development of new products and services in the areas adjacent to the financial capital market, which is the core of Nomura Group, while also refining existing services, based on client needs. Here, I would like to introduce the two popular products and services from Nomura Trust and Banking. The first is Nomura Web Loan.
As a fully online securities-backed loan, this product allows clients to borrow up to JPY 500 million, at an annual interest rate, of 1.9% as of today. By setting securities held at Nomura Securities as collateral, clients can borrow without selling their assets. Clients can directly receive voting rights and dividends. This product, is available to a wider age bracket of clients from 18 to 79 years old. The second is Nomura's Testamentary Trusts. The Testamentary Trust ,provides comprehensive support from consultations on creating wills to storage and execution services. While these services are also offered by other firms, the biggest point of Nomura's Testamentary Trust, is that we have set the cap on the execution fees. As the inheritance needs increase in Japan, we as Nomura Group, have introduced this service for our clients to use with peace of mind.
Finally, I will discuss systems as part of our growth strategy toward 2030. Nomura Trust and Banking, has renewed its core banking system for the first time in 20 years, as of the 7th of this month, enhancing and expanding the core systems of the bank. This will enable an expansion of system capacity, and as the next initiative, we plan to start providing a Deposit Sweep Service, that allows automatic fund transfer between accounts at Nomura Securities and Nomura Trust and Banking, by the fiscal year ending March 2027. This can be described as a financial hybrid service that adds banking functions to Nomura Securities' accounts, significantly improving client convenience.
Through the provision of new financial services as Nomura Group, which integrates banking services, we aim to deliver better products and services to our clients and achieve significant growth of the division through the expansion into diverse businesses along the growth of our balance sheet. To conclude our growth strategy, I would like to reiterate the role of the Banking Division. Banking Division, aims to deliver high-added value to clients through the provision of functions such as trust, investment trust, trusteeship, and banking through group collaboration. Additionally, in this process, we will strengthen governance as a bank and expand our business as the fourth division, contributing to the stable growth of the group's revenue. The origin of the Nomura Group, dates back to 1925, when the Securities Department of Osaka, Nomura Bank, became independent as Nomura Securities.
As we establish Banking Division in 2025, the centennial of our founding, we cannot help but feel a deep connection to the banking business. While inheriting the unchanged spirit of contributing to the creation of a prosperous society since our founding, we will work towards realizing the purpose of the Nomura Group, through the development of the Banking Division. Thank you very much.
The first question is from Daiwa Securities, Mr. Watanabe. Watanabe-san, please go ahead.
Thank you. This is Watanabe, from Daiwa Securities. Mainly two things. First is about the Banking Division and the interest rate sensitivity. If interest rates go up, let's say 50 basis points, how much will the pre-tax income increase? Could you share any calculations, if any? For the inorganic growth, inorganic investment opportunities that you mentioned, there is a consolidation of the digital banking industry. What functions does your Banking Division need?
What are the missing pieces, please? My second question is, about the capital policy and the set-one ratio target. You mentioned 14%, as the upper end of the range. Why did you choose 14%? If it goes above 14%, what will you do? What will change? Thank you.
Thank you very much. This is Okada, from the Banking Division. In terms of the missing pieces, let me address that first. We are a boutique-style bank, and we are not a bank with all banking functions. We will be working in the zones adjacent to the financial markets. One area we are thinking of is, as mentioned several times, the real estate-related business. We think there still is a lot of room to acquire skills in that area. For loans, it will be the investment securities collateralized loans, which we have the track record in.
For Japan high-net-worth customers, they have a lot of real estate assets. We want to be able to provide a different type of loan to such clients and enhance our functions. The first step will be to grow that capability within the bank. If there is anything else we can do, we would like to consider those options too. In terms of the interest rate sensitivity, and you mentioned 50 basis points rate hike, we do not disclose the impact on our pre-tax income. In our loan business, our loans, differ from the traditional banks, and there is a lot of variable interest factor. The funding environment, funding methods is quite different from traditional banks. The ratio of the common deposits is quite high.
There are pros and cons to this, but we have done some simulations about the rate sensitivity if it does go up by 50 basis points, let's say, but we do not disclose the actual numbers.
This is Watanabe again. In terms of the funding, where is the main source of funding? If rates go up, is it positive? Yes, thank you.
This is Okada. The main sources of funding is corporate deposits at the moment. The common deposits or individual deposits accounts for about 35%. At the moment, it is quite low, the ratio of individuals. That could change going forward, especially with the sweep scheme that will start in 2026. There may be a big change in the structure. Yes, the impact of rate hikes.
At the moment, if rates go up, we are positively impacted because they're the loans collateralized by investment securities, and that is pretty much provided through variable interest or floating interest. If rates go up, we have the positive impact first from the loan interest, and there is a somewhat time lag before the negative impact kicks in. At this moment, we have a positive impact from rate hikes.
Okay, understand. Thank you.
This is Kitamura, CFO. Watanabe-san, thank you for your question. Regarding the capital policy and the upper limit of the range or the upper end of the guideline, the reason for setting that is we got a lot of questions from stakeholders about capital policy, shareholder return policy. We wanted to make it easier to understand, and we wanted to enhance communication regarding these policies, thus the setting of the target range.
We intend to further enhance our ROE, and keep that in mind as we manage the firm. Please see this as a message of our intention. The reason for the 14%, is it shows that we want to adapt flexibly to risks and also capture investment opportunities and address or prepare for market volatilities and secure a certain amount of excess capital. As we have been saying, there is the tier one ratio and the capital ratio. There are other Basel-related metrics that we need to keep in mind. That is how we came up with this 14%. If it goes above 14%, what will happen was your other question. That will lead to active growth investments or shareholder returns. If it goes above 14%, we see this as excess capital.
If above 14%, and if there are no attractive investment opportunities, in principle, we will be returning promptly to our shareholders. Thank you.
Thank you. In terms of the method of the returns, this is to adjust capital. It will not be buybacks or special dividends.
Yes, this is Kitamura. As for the treasury stock, we do not have that much flexibility. Depending on the situation, we may do buybacks, or we have always paid out, or we have in the past paid out dividends of above 40%. Yes, we may consider dividends higher than 50%.
Understand. Thank you very much.
The next question comes from Mr. Muraki, of SMBC Nikko Securities. Mr. Muraki, please go ahead.
Thank you. I'm Muraki, from SMBC Nikko Securities. I have two questions. First, Banking Division's presentation page seven, JPY 50 billion of pre-tax income, that's the target.
Regarding breakdown, loan-related portion and a trust-related and a Luxembourg business. Those are the three components, but could you give me the rough breakdown? Also, regarding the start of Deposit Sweep Service, JPY 1.4 trillion, is a deposit size right now, but to what extent do you intend to increase the balance? If it is just loan funding, then if there is JPY 3 trillion plus, that would be sufficient. In the case of Daiwa Next Bank, deposit is JPY 4 trillion or above. Your client size is twice there, so JPY 8 trillion, of deposit could be secured. To what extent do you want to grow the balance? Through securities investment, how do you intend to secure the spread? Second question is regarding IM division strategy. Based upon the presentation, as Mr.
Wilcox knows, JPMorgan's AWM division CEO, Marriott CEO, says that this market or industry is fragmented and only the largest player is growing the market share. Recently, Apollo's CEO, Loan, said something similar. Do you agree with those views? In order to win in the competition, what kind of characteristics or bolt-on M&As, in the competitive environment as you conduct global asset management business? How do you consider the importance of bolt-on acquisitions? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Okada speaking. Firstly, let me address your question regarding PGI. First, NTB Nomura Trust and Banking, and then Nomura Bank Luxembourg, and $35 billion to $15 billion, a total of $50 billion. As for business, Nomura Trust and Banking, regarding banking business, about 60%, then trust business is the other 40%. That's the split.
The other thing, the deposit you asked about, JPY 2.8 trillion, is the loan balance. On the back of it, the funding is a deposit. In total, JPY 4 trillion, is the balance we aim to achieve. Currently, you mentioned Daiwa Next Bank. In comparison, this balance of deposits seems low, but at least we'd like to attain this level. As you know, Nomura Securities MRF, has JPY 6 trillion in balance. Firstly, we'd like to explain our service to clients and have them understand the quality of our service and then attain the target. That's my answer. Thank you.
Good morning. Thank you for the question. As you know, the people you quoted are my former colleagues. They obviously run a very large asset manager. It's probably fair to say that scale is helpful in asset management, particularly in broad market asset management and particularly in passive.
I would say that people who run very large asset managers tend to tell you that being large is good. Historically, in asset management, being large is not always regarded as good. It depends on the strategies. However, if you look at page four, of the presentation that we made earlier, you can see the pro forma of where we will stand after the transaction closes. I would say that this means that the platform that we're building is not itself small. It would be in the medium to larger size of asset managers. As we said, it would be a top 40 asset manager in the world. Our ambition is obviously to grow from here.
The number one thing that we are concerned about in running an asset management business , is the excellence of the investment capabilities and the returns, that we are able to sustainably and repeatedly deliver to clients. That is the key point around our strategy. In terms of what we might add to the platform over time, obviously, our first priority is closing the deal, ensuring that the existing businesses are stable and ensuring that our clients are comfortable and well-served. Yes, we do believe that one of the rationales for this purchase is to have a platform and a distribution capability that would allow us to expand the product range. The areas in which we would like to grow it are areas of existing strength, as we discussed, including insurance and equities, fixed income, and multi-asset.
We have some private markets capabilities run by NAM, which we would like to explore how to distribute to this client base. We have some private credit capabilities, that have been built in NCM under Robert Stark in New York. However, we will consider buying or bolting on other capabilities that we think would be useful to our clients. What I would say about that is we will take the same approach that we took to this acquisition, which is to be extremely structured, thoughtful, and cautious about what we do. We spent a lot of time making sure that this was a good acquisition, that was a good fit for the firm's strategy, and also a good cultural fit for us. Any future bolt-ons that we would do, we will take the same very structured and thoughtful approach to any further acquisitions that we make.
Certainly, they are possible.
Thank you very much. Regarding your answer on the banking, Mr. Okuda, could I have your comment on banking? The last decades in Japan, Daiwa, in the United States, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman, NHR, though they did not succeed, they focused on the lending and deposit business. At this point in time, you are saying you will focus on the banking business. Why did you make that decision? What was the background based upon the progress of your internal discussion?
Thank you for the question. As was presented earlier, for 32 years already, we have been conducting banking business. In that sense, we have been running banking business. By leveraging our strengths, we would like to run the business. Especially, we have a trust function that is different from the general commercial bank.
In that trusteeship business, we have high market share in Japan. To support that, we have Nomura Bank Luxembourg. We have a high market share in the business we do, and we have high market recognition. It is not that we try to compete in all possible banking functions, but utilizing our strength, we would like to run the banking business. That is our intention. Also, the Banking Division, was established. I believe you are asking the question why we set up the division. So far, we have had individual entities, Nomura Trust and Banking and Nomura Bank Luxembourg, separate. As I explained in my presentation, firstly, it was a bank within the securities company. It was kind of narrow in its horizon or view. As Nomura Trust and Banking, conducted business, they had to take a look at Nomura Securities' perspective.
My perspective was, that we should place more focus on the banking business. I am not just talking about Nomura Trust and Banking, but Mr. Okada, is now the Head of Banking Division. Mr. Okada, he is tasked to oversee not just Nomura Trust and Banking, but to oversee other enhancements and addition or creation of banking functions that we have not had as Nomura. For him to explore such ideas, we established the division. So far, under Wealth Management, Mr. Sugiyama, we had Nomura Trust and Banking, below Wealth Management. The way of doing business in the sense of compliance and KYC, all the functions needed for banks are going to be secured. We have multiple professionals with banking capabilities. By having the division independent, we would like to help the division grow.
It is not that it is a brand new strategy we started in April. It is based upon the foundation that we have been building all along. Also, by using our strengths or edgy products, we have been nurturing in order to further drive the growth of the edgy products. Trusdt bank, should not be placed inside the Wealth Management, but the Banking Division, is expected to go beyond the existing boundaries and look at the wider banking functions. That is the intention.
Thank you very much for your close explanation. I fully understood.
The next question is from Bank of America Securities, Tsujino-san. Tsujino-san, please go ahead.
Thank you very much. Regarding the banking business, the capital allocation, you have your current loan balance, and going forward, there will be various types of assets on your books.
How do you currently think about how much capital to allocate to these businesses? Or how much increase are you anticipating in terms of the balance of the assets? The other thing is, for Wholesale, Global Markets, you have the daily volatility, which has come down, you explained. As for the various business lines, which you covered in your presentation, what was the key to improving or lowering the volatility? How does the senior management see the reasons for being able to reduce the volatility? The reason I ask is because I want to know whether this is sustainable or not, or if the personnel changes, if there are some appointments, is it going to go back to high volatility again? I was just wondering what improved to lower the volatility. Is it something sustainable or not?
Did you change the way you work or how the teams are set up, or is it not such changes? Yeah, please explain the reason for the lower volatility.
Yes, this is Kitamura. Regarding the banking capital allocation, and as Okada-san explained in his presentation, we have the loan balance to JPY 2.8 trillion. That is the target. We have various products in doing so. These are not really risk-heavy loans. Please assume the products to be as such. When we say loans, we do have sufficient collateral. In terms of RWA usage, it is not that heavy is what we are anticipating. Even though the business will transform, the capital allocation will not necessarily tilt that much to the banking business. Of course, as we grow as a bank, the capital required will be one factor we need to keep in mind.
We will allocate the right amount of capital as we grow the business, but we will see how the business progresses and adjust the capital accordingly.
Good morning. Thank you for the great question. As you said, one of the features of the improvement in our performance has been a reduction in the volatility of our performance. We have reduced the number of overall lost days over the past two years significantly. Also, the number of days in which the business is above break-even, is 33%, higher in 2024-2025 than in 2023-2024. 2023-2024 was 21%, higher than 2022-2023. You are right, that is a big part of it. There are basically five main ways in which we have done that. I will give you a little bit of detail on them, but they fall into five categories. One is risk management. Two is improved talent.
Three is client focus and client franchise. Four, is the globalization of the business. Five, is the diversification of the products out. Firstly, we've obviously strengthened our risk oversight. Part of that has been strengthened by the RMEP program, that we operated over several years, including a very significant increase in investment in the in-business risk management function as well. The second thing was obviously we have significantly invested in talent. We learned the lesson that if we lose talent, we need to replace it quickly. There's been very significant talent increases across all of our markets businesses over the past two years. All of that hiring has been self-funded and has not led to an overall direct cost increase. The next thing has been that the philosophy of the business has been significantly shifted in two important ways.
One, is that the businesses are now all globalized. We therefore have business heads that are looking at risks on a global basis. It is easier to see things that might be going wrong. It's also easier to compare things and to apply best practice to risk management and, for that matter, to controls across businesses globally. The other big philosophical change, is that we have been focusing on building our client franchise. The business, is a client-focused business. We have increased the number of salespeople, in relation to the number of traders in our business. We have invested in a significant client relationship management function and built out that function so that we know our clients well. We've invested in understanding our client data and using external comparisons for that client data. Very significant investment there in understanding what our clients are doing.
What that means is that the volatility of our revenues becomes more related to client flows than it does to risk-taking. We've achieved the results over the last few years actually with less risk in risk measure terms as well as less volatility. The final piece is that, as Okuda-san, said in his presentation, we've taken areas where we were strong geographically in one region, and the areas in which we've expanded and built and diversified the business have been building on strengths that we have, but by geographical diversification. We've built the equity derivatives business in Asia. We've built the securitized products and private markets business in London, and we've expanded the FX business, in New York. All of those things mean that we have a less volatile profile.
We would believe that that is whilst markets can always provide extreme volatility, so we can't guarantee that there will never be volatility in our earnings. We think that we're structurally a less volatile business than we were before, and we think it is sustainable in the long run. 昨日でご質問を[Foreign language]。
Next, we have a question on the chat from Nagasaki-san, from Morgan Stanley.
First question: The impact of tariff, short-term and long-term, what are the risks and what are the opportunities of the tariff? For example, in wholesale business from January through March, ECM and M&A, unlike global trend, performance was good, but moving forward, uncertainty will persist, so the transaction pipeline accumulation might be affected. What's your view? Japan, is different from global trend, and in Japan, is it easier to build a pipeline in Japan? That's the first question.
The second question is regarding usage of AI technology. AI personnel training and AI investment and appropriate size of digital investment, including AI. That is the second question. Thank you.
I'll take the first question. Yes, you're correct that the tariff discussions have created a higher degree of risk and volatility. We certainly, I think all firms have certainly seen that impact the investment banking pipeline internationally. I think when it comes to the Japan business, in some ways, the reduced opportunities or the more uncertain outlook internationally does not have a big impact on the Japan pipeline. In fact, in some ways, it might actually make the Japan pipeline, higher because firms will be focused on optimizing in Japan, rather than doing cross-border deals because cross-border deals have been made much more difficult by this environment.
As you, I'm sure you are aware of all of the long-term trends in the Japan market, which are leading to corporate actions and creating fertile ground for mergers and acquisitions and for other activity. That includes the M&A guidelines,, from the Japanese government and the recent directives from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which are aimed at raising shareholder value mindsets around the market, and all of which are encouraging Japanese firms to improve returns to their shareholders, which we think leads to them making decisions where we can support our clients in executing that strategic decision-making through tailored solutions. Aside from that, the ECM, DCM pipelines, are performing well, and ECM solutions, alongside it are also performing well. We expect a stable flow of deals and an increase in corporate activities, including some of the cross-shareholding dissolutions and share buyback plans.
We think we're optimistic about the pipeline. We don't think that the Japan-specific pipeline, is significantly impacted by what's happening in the international markets. Thank you.
Thank you. Kitamura, speaking. Regarding your second question regarding usage of AI, I am also a Transformation Officer. In my capacity, AI is viewed as an existence that cannot be ignored. When we think about transformation, the usage of AI is a critical point. This time, page 32 and 33 of Mr. Okuda's presentation touches upon IT architectures in Japan and overseas. As part of this, the distribution of application is commented on. Sorry, that discontinuation of applications and consolidation of applications are going to be pursued. As part of the initiative, AI is going to be built in. That's what we are considering right now.
I am one of the joint chairs, but in Japan and overseas, we have AI COE, Center of Excellence, which we have established. With participation of representatives of experts and representatives of each business, AI COE, is conducting discussion of various ideas. By implementing various ideas, our aspiration is to accumulate knowledge on AI. If each division goes on its own, the siloed structure may be created. By using the common forum where each division can bring in their own ideas, we do believe that momentum for such joint activities will pick up speed further. We are not a bulge bracket. When it comes to investment, we cannot make a huge investment. Overall, infrastructure cost is being suppressed, as you see in page 32 and 33. At the same time, we are considering making investment into AI-related areas.
Overall IT cost, we do not intend to increase the overall IT cost, but rather what we are thinking about is reshuffling. A big portion of IT cost, is run-of-the-bank cost, such as maintenance or repair. We would like to reduce that portion. At the same time, we would like to grow the portion for future investment. That concludes my answer. Thank you.
The next question is from Citigroup Securities, Niwa-san. Niwa-san, please go ahead.
Thank you. This is Niwa, from Citi. Hope you can hear me. Yes, thank you very much. Thank you for the opportunity to ask questions. Two questions. First, as Nomura Holdings overall, how do you think about alliances, especially in the Japan segment and in wholesale revenue, wholesale earnings? On page 14, for the Japan segment, there is retail, wholesale. For Japan retail, there are a lot of trends across the boundaries.
For example, yeah, how do you see these trends in the industry? What is Nomura's strength and what are the issues? Is a more comprehensive alliance one of your options, or is it going to be mainly the existing platform? Is that going to be the main strategy? That is the first question. Number two, page 22, on wholesale. In the past few years, your share has not really changed that much, but you talked about the additional resources to the U.S. How much share do you think you will gain from those investments? A somewhat bigger picture topic would be the geopolitical dynamics in the U.S. is changing right now. How does that affect Nomura's global business, in the U.S. and EMEA? How does that affect the relative positioning over the long term, please?
Thank you. This is Okuda.
Your first question regarding Nomura Group's alliances. Let me address that. Especially in the Japan segment, you talked about wholesale and retail and wealth management. You also explained the background for your question. Our thinking is, as has been unchanged for a while, and we have achieved results in the platform business. We provide the platform, and it is not so much a strategy of going to areas which we do not cover right now, but instead leveraging on our current strengths and where we can offer a platform. We complement that with other partners to take the next steps in those domains. That is the way we think about alliances. Especially when it comes to Japan wealth management, we have the alliances with regional banks, and we announced the sixth alliance. There are a lot of financial institutions which have issues with the securities business.
This is not just about financial institutions or not just banks. There are other financial institutions, which have needs for our types of services. We can get them to use our platform, or we can sell their products for them. We are achieving positive results. We will continue these efforts. We may be a bit more creative in the way we do it, but in principle, we will continue this platform-based approach. That will be the top priority when it comes to alliances. Regarding wholesale, at the moment, it is quite hard to do alliances or M&A, in Japan for wholesale. For investment management, we would like to expand the private domain. This is not just in Japan, but also relates to the bolt-on acquisitions that we may make with Macquarie, in the Macquarie transaction. We will be seeking opportunities there.
In terms of the platform, this is not just about alliances, but we have discussions with the Japan Security Dealers Association. There are some services which we should offer jointly. Securities firms, are in very different stages. As the leader of the industry, we should offer various services as a platform. We have been saying platform strategy since a few years ago, and we are gradually making progress in this area. That is how we think about alliances and platforms. About the geopolitical dynamics, we have Chris, and he looks like he wants to say something. I will ask Chris to address that one.
Hi, Niwa-san. Thank you for the question. There were two parts to the question. One was market share. I think you are being very kind to us in saying that our market share has not moved very much.
I think if you look over the last seven to eight years, our market share actually went down fairly significantly. The first priority that we had was to reverse that, particularly with regards to market share with our clients. I think over the past two years, you can see that we have changed that direction. Our market share last year rose something like 20 basis points. We'd like to continue that. We do not have a specific target for market share, but certainly, market share is one of the metrics we look at to see whether we are outperforming as a result of the business changes that we are making versus the wallet in the market. I think it is clear that over the last year, we outperformed the market in terms of gaining market share across most of our product areas and across our client base.
The second question, about the geopolitical environment, I think we sort of partially covered this earlier. We do not see it as a threat to what we are forecasting in Japan, but clearly in the international business, it is creating uncertainty. That uncertainty gives both positive and challenging environments. In terms of the positives, we have certainly seen heightened volatility across different asset classes, and that does increase activity for our macro and equities businesses, and we have seen the benefits of that. We also see some increase in deals in domestic Japan, as well as we discussed before. We also are seeing policy divergences between different countries and central banks. Again, that produces unique opportunities. It looks like the Fed and the BOJ, will be moving interest rates in different directions to each other. That provides opportunities where clients need our help.
We believe that there's a lot of dry powder out there in the market, particularly amongst the financial sponsors. As this current period of volatility declines, we think we'll see that being put to work, and that will provide opportunities. Obviously, on the challenge side, we are seeing some stress in credit markets and some spread widenings, and that does dampen client activity in some of those areas, particularly in some of the securitized products markets. Ultimately, as I mentioned earlier, we have seen some drop-off in immediate M&A volumes, and deal activity internationally on the IB side. Although we do think that there are some fundamental drivers that mean that that will come back over time, it is probably more of a delay than a cancellation.
From a geopolitical point of view, we get some pluses in some of our businesses and some challenges in others, and that is the value of making sure that we have a diversified business.
Okay, we still have several questions, but unfortunately, we are out of time, so we would like to end the Q&A session. Please continue to address your questions to the IR team at Nomura Holdings. Lastly, Okuda-san, closing remarks, please.
Yes, this is Okuda. Thank you very much, everyone, for joining the Investor Day presentations. As the MC explained, I think we covered only part of the questions, so we will make sure to address the questions after this. If anything, please feel free to contact the IR team at Nomura. We as a group thank the investors and the sell-side analysts for having interest in Nomura.
We will try to have as many opportunities to have a careful and thorough dialogue with you and address your questions and communicate with our stakeholders. We look forward to your continued support and interest to Nomura. Please feel free to send over any questions that you may have anytime. Thank you for your support, and thank you for joining today.
Thank you, everyone. With that, we'd like to conclude today's Investor Day. Thank you for joining, and we look forward to your continued support.