Nomura Holdings, Inc. announced on Thursday that it would purchase a 40 percent stake in Julius Baer Wealth Management Ltd. (JBWM), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Julius Baer Group Ltd. (JBG), a major Swiss private bank.
Under the agreement, JBG will retain a 60 percent stake in JBWM, and the remaining 40 percent will go to the Japanese financial holding company. Once the investment is completed, JBWM will be renamed as Julius Baer Nomura Wealth Management Ltd and the new company will be an equity-method affiliate of Nomura.
Nomura expects the investment to be completed by the end of this year. The firm said in the statement that it does not expect this investment to have a material impact on its consolidated results.
JBWM is a provider of discretionary investment services for clients in Japan. The firm’s portfolio management team is based in Zurich and provides these services with the help of the company’s senior relationship management professionals in the Tokyo office.
According to the statement, Nomura is experiencing an increasing demand among its high net worth clients for diversification opportunities. As a result, the firm will now offer the discretionary investment services provided by JBWM for its own clients in Japan.
Nomura UK Appoints New CEO
This Thursday truly was a busy day for the company, as the firm also made another big announcement, this time for its United Kingdom operations. The company said in a statement that Go Hiramatsu has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Nomura Asset Management U.K. Limited.
Previously Hiramatsu was the General Manager of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulated firm. His new position will be effective from October 1, 2018. Hiramatsu will be replacing Toshihiko Matsunaga who is the current CEO of the UK-based firm. The statement does not provide any insight into the move.
