Masayuki Kichikawa

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co., Ltd. (SMDAM) is the majority owned asset management subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (TYO: 8316) in Japan. The firm was founded as Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management (SMAM) in 2002 from a merger of the five corporations: Mitsui Life Global Asset Management, Sakura Investment Management, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Asset Management, Sumisei Global Investment Trust Management, and Sumitomo Life Investment. In 2019, SMAM and Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. merged to begin a new chapter as Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management. Headquartered in Tokyo, SMDAM provides discretionary portfolio management services to institutional clients, that primarily consists of governmental pension funds, private corporate pension funds and related trusts.

BofA Securities Japan Co., Ltd. (BofA Securities Japan) is the wholly-owned Japanese brokerage subsidiary of Merrill Lynch International, Inc., which is ultimately owned by Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). Founded in 1998, the firm was formerly known as Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co., Ltd. (MLJS) and changed their name to BofA Securities Co., Ltd. in line with grobal re-branding from BofA Merrill Lynch to BofA in 2020. They subsequently became BofA Securities Japan Co., Ltd. Headquartered in Tokyo, BofA Securities Japan provides stock and bond trading, capital markets, investment banking and other advisory services to corporate clients, financial institutions and government agencies.

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd. (MUMSS) is an independent securities brokerage firm headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The firm was founded in 1948 through a joint venture between Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings Co. Ltd. and Morgan Stanley Japan Holdings Co. Ltd. MUMSS offers domestic retail brokerage services to corporate and institutional clients.