An arm of Belgian-Dutch financial services group Fortis, Fortis Asset Management Japan Co, which began operations on November 12, is targeting Japan's 200 trillion yen ($1,811 billion) public pension funds to expand its business.
After buying Commerz International Capital Management Japan (CICM) from Commerzbank this year, Fortis is set to grow further, by buying ABN Amro's Dutch retail and commercial banking operations and its wealth and asset management arm. If the deal is completed, assets held by CICM, group firm Fortis Investments and ABN Amro's Japan asset management operations, mean Fortis will have about 1 trillion yen under management in Japan and employ 80 staff.
"As an asset management firm, we will be a decent-sized firm to knock on the door of the public sector," Hitoshi Yamamoto, CEO of Fortis Asset Management Japan and the head of the firm's holding company in Japan, told Reuters in an interview on November 16. "Having Japanese public pension funds as clients means a lot in terms of creditworthiness."
With the Japanese stock market dropping and other Asia markets underperforming, marketing Japanese stocks may not be easy but Yamamoto also said he wants to cultivate investors with deep pockets in the Middle East.
While Fortis Japan will continue to offer gatekeeper services where portfolio managers select best products for investors and monitor clients' investments in funds, it will also sell in-house products such as SRI funds, he said.
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