TOKYO, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s (MUFG) trust banking arm aims to double alternative assets under management in its own funds to around 1.6 trillion yen ($10 billion) over four years, an executive said, as interest rates rise in Japan.
“In the next medium-term plan we want to at least double” alternative assets, Satoshi Someya, managing executive officer at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp, told Reuters. The plan will run until the fiscal year ending in March 2030.
“Personally, I think we might be able to go even further,” he said. Alternative assets include private credit, infrastructure and real estate, and Someya said the company hoped to reach about 1 trillion yen in each asset class.
Reuters is reporting the company’s expansion target for the first time.
In the short term, private credit has the highest growth potential, Someya said, with its funds including loans related to corporate financing and project finance.
Rising interest rates in Japan are increasing the appeal of yen-denominated income products.
Someya said the company aims to secure funding from domestic institutional investors such as life insurers, regional banks and pension funds but will also consider expansion to overseas institutional investors and wealthy individuals.
Through subsidiary First Sentier Investors in Australia, the group acquired London-based AlbaCore Capital, which has strengths in alternative assets.
There is scope to expand the product lineup, and the trust banking arm will consider M&A to gain expertise in areas such as overseas real estate and domestic infrastructure, Someya said.
($1 = 158.1100 yen)
(Reporting by Miho Uranaka and Sam Nussey; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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