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Japan's first asset management department in a university

Sep 19, 2008

Each year in Japan, approximately 400,000 graduates compete for the best jobs available. A career in the asset management industry is becoming increasingly desirable, but there have not been any specialist courses available for students to learn more about the business, until now.    

 J.P. Morgan Asset Management (Japan) (JPMAMJ) has agreed to support the Osaka Electro-Communication University (OECU) in launching the first asset management department at a university in Japan. This is the first such faculty among more than 740 universities in Japan.

Scheduled to commence studies in April 2009, OECU’s new department aims to produce graduates with the necessary skills to enjoy an effective and successful career in asset management. The Class of 2009, comprising 80 students, will graduate in 2012, after mastering modules such as portfolio theory, asset allocation, financial planning, and real estate investment theory, to name but a few.

Simon Walls, president and CEO of JPMAMJ, said: “Asset management is a rapidly growing industry in Japan as individuals are placing an increasing proportion of their savings into equity funds and other investment vehicles. We believe that the establishment of Japan’s first asset management department in a university can play a significant role in accommodating this growth, by developing future human resources for the industry.”

School’s in session
Committing to a four-year partnership with OECU, JPMAMJ will provide students with industry expertise through a series of regular guest lectures.  As an endowed chair, the company will provide a “JPMAM” special class in which senior staff will give lectures. Masahiko Nakai, vice chairman of JPMAMJ, will become an affiliate professor of OECU.  In this special role Nakai-san will give undergraduates first-hand insight into the finer mechanics of the asset management business, including practical lessons on how to manage a successful investment management company.

When OECU’s Department of Asset Management opens next year, Nakai-san will lead a module called "Introduction to Asset Management."  This will involve teaching the principles of investment management as well as presenting practical case studies on JPMAM’s business functions such as fund management, sales, client servicing and operations management.  

Additionally, to help students get a foot on the career ladder, JPMAMJ will provide training and internship opportunities. “We believe that the experience and knowledge that students will obtain through our collaboration with OECU will help them become work-ready graduates, and therefore highly desirable to Japan’s fund management companies,” said Walls.

“Yoisho!”
A signing ceremony and press conference to mark the partnership between OECU and JPMAMJ was held recently in Osaka, Japan’s second largest city. In keeping with Japanese tradition, the signing of the partnership contract was followed by the "Kagami-biraki", the Japanese ceremony of hitting a sake barrel three times with a wooden hammer to celebrate a new start.

Building further links with the community
The partnership with OECU is part of JPMAMJ’s corporate social responsibility strategy and aims to deepen the understanding of investment within the broader community, with the ultimate additional aim of expanding our overall fund investor base. The collaboration is particularly well-timed during a period in which millions of individuals are increasingly managing their own assets via investment products.

As a result of opening a branch office in Osaka in October 2007, JPMAMJ provides support for clients in Kansai, Japan’s second largest business region. Together with the new association with OECU, this cements JPMAMJ’s commitment to fostering important alliances with the city of Osaka.

Undoubtedly, the partnership between OECU and JPMAMJ will help to raise the profile of the JPMAM brand, while supporting the firm’s continued drive to become one of the leading asset management companies in Japan.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management is the marketing name for the asset management businesses of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Those businesses include J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. and its affiliates, including, without limitation, JPMorgan Investment Advisors Inc., Security Capital Research & Management Incorporated, and J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management, Inc.