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https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Finance/MUFG-to-take-100m-stake-in-Japan-s-top-robo-adviser
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will invest 15 billion yen ($100 million) in WealthNavi, Japan's largest robo-adviser platform, and offer a service recommending investment products, mortgages and insurance policies to customers based on their assets, Nikkei has learned.
MUFG Bank, MUFG's flagship unit, is expected to take a stake of more than 15% through a private placement, making WealthNavi an equity-method affiliate. WealthNavi will remain listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and keep its current leadership team, with MUFG sending a director to the board.
WealthNavi provides automated advice to customers on how to allocate their assets based on their answers to a few questions, and then buys the recommended assets for them. Its assets under management topped 1 trillion yen in January, far outstripping such local rivals as Money Design.
MUFG and WealthNavi will use artificial intelligence and such customer data as age and family structure to provide more precisely targeted recommendations. MUFG will link the service to its rewards programs.
The robo-adviser service will be advertised as a way to help build wealth to the nearly 10 million users of MUFG Bank's website and app. Users will be able to seek in-person consultations if needed. MUFG will consider linking the robo-adviser to its Money Canvas asset management platform launched in 2021 as well.
WealthNavi will use the funding from MUFG to develop new services.
MUFG has been investing more in startups -- including its acquisition of "buy now, pay later" company Kanmu, announced in 2022 -- to retain and expand its online retail customer base. It entered a business tie-up with WealthNavi in 2020 and will use its stake to facilitate joint development.
With scale becoming an increasingly important factor for asset management, other Japanese megabanks have also stepped up efforts to extend their reach into other fields. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group have invested in major online brokerages.
This trend is only seen accelerating with the January launch of the revamped NISA tax-exempt investment account program.
Posted In: MUFG
