Executive Director, Metrical Inc

Aki Matsumoto

Executive Director

Independent Leading Corporate Governance Research

Metrical Inc

METRICAL INC. is an independent leading Corporate Governance research firm in Japan where Corporate Governance is increasingly recognized as an important element on corporate management in these days. Thus, CG research and solutions would become an essential component of global capital markets and play important to contribute to transparency of the markets and maximize shareholders’ value in Japan. 

METRICAL INC. provides Corporate Governance research and analysis including rating services, and  also offers investment research and IR services with solutions and customized profound research on CG and IR issues.

In this article, we will examine cash holdings. We have discussed the importance of capital allocation in several articles on this site. If we consider that cash holdings are the result of allocating funds to business investments such as capital expenditures and shareholder returns such as dividends and share buybacks, we can see cash holdings as one of the results of capital allocation.

In this article, we will examine cash holdings. We have discussed the importance of capital allocation in several articles on this site. If we consider that cash holdings are the result of allocating funds to business investments such as capital expenditures and shareholder returns such as dividends and share buybacks, we can see cash holdings as one of the results of capital allocation.

The annual shareholders meeting season in June is over, and there are now considerably fewer listed companies holding shareholders meetings. Although it is a somewhat calmer time, I would like to take up electronic voting again, as it is an important means of exercising voting rights, especially for overseas institutional investors.

The annual shareholders meeting season in June is over, and there are now considerably fewer listed companies holding shareholders meetings. Although it is a somewhat calmer time, I would like to take up electronic voting again, as it is an important means of exercising voting rights, especially for overseas institutional investors.

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Event-Driven

Post market close yesterday, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/japan-post-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:359:1" rel="noopener">Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP)</a> announced that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) would be selling 1,027,477,400 shares of the company to pare their stake to the minimum mandated 33.3%. The sell down is 27% of the company shares and at the last price is worth JPY 952bn (US$8.55bn).<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/japan-post-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:359:1" rel="noopener">Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP)</a> also announced that they would be buying a maximum of 133m shares or up to JPY 100bn of their own shares following the supply-demand imbalance following the Ministry of Finance's offering.The news of the potential sell down has been swirling for the last week and the stock is down around 7.6% since then. With pricing of the offering to be determined between 25-27 October, the stock should head lower in the near term.The passive buying due to an increase in the free float of the stock, plus the buyback, will support <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/japan-post-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:359:1" rel="noopener">Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP)</a>. Both events together will mop up between 40-43% of the MOF offering.With the Ministry of Finance holding the minimum mandated stake in the company, the overhang will go away.

Post market close yesterday, Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP) announced that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) would be selling 1,027,477,400 shares of the company to pare their stake to the minimum mandated 33.3%. The sell down is 27% of the company shares and at the last price is worth JPY 952bn (US$8.55bn).Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP) also announced that they would be buying a maximum of 133m shares or up to JPY 100bn of their own shares following the supply-demand imbalance following the Ministry of Finance's offering.The news of the potential sell down has been swirling for the last week and the stock is down around 7.6% since then. With pricing of the offering to be determined between 25-27 October, the stock should head lower in the near term.The passive buying due to an increase in the free float of the stock, plus the buyback, will support Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP). Both events together will mop up between 40-43% of the MOF offering.With the Ministry of Finance holding the minimum mandated stake in the company, the overhang will go away.

Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP): Passive Buying + Buyback Will Mop Up MOF Offering

I have discussed the importance of gender diversity in previous articles such as "Gender Gap Index and Women Directors" and "Labor Productivity and Gender Diversity". In this article, I would like to examine it in more detail using the September 2021 data from 1,709 companies in the Metrical Universe.

I have discussed the importance of gender diversity in previous articles such as "Gender Gap Index and Women Directors" and "Labor Productivity and Gender Diversity". In this article, I would like to examine it in more detail using the September 2021 data from 1,709 companies in the Metrical Universe.

In my previous article, "Nomination Committee," I provided information on the status of nomination committees of listed companies in Japan by the organizational structure of the company. Then, in order to understand how these nomination committees operate, we examined and presented (1) whether the nomination committee is a statutory nomination committee or a voluntary statutory nomination committee, (2) whether the nomination committee is composed of a majority or a minority of outside directors, and (3) whether the nomination committee is chaired by an outside director. Based on the hypothesis that "in order for the Nomination Committee to function properly, the Board of Directors would operate more properly if it had a majority of outside directors," we verified this hypothesis by showing the ratio of outside directors on the Board of Directors. As a result, it was confirmed that shifting to a company with a nominating committee, etc., where a legal nominating committee is established, is a promising way for the appropriate operation of the nominating committee to function. It was also found that in many companies with other organizational forms, outside directors do not constitute a majority of the board of directors in a limited number of companies, and that there is no small possibility that the nominating committee is not operating properly. In this article, I would like to update the above analysis as new indications were found in the data as of the end of September 2021.

In my previous article, "Nomination Committee," I provided information on the status of nomination committees of listed companies in Japan by the organizational structure of the company. Then, in order to understand how these nomination committees operate, we examined and presented (1) whether the nomination committee is a statutory nomination committee or a voluntary statutory nomination committee, (2) whether the nomination committee is composed of a majority or a minority of outside directors, and (3) whether the nomination committee is chaired by an outside director. Based on the hypothesis that "in order for the Nomination Committee to function properly, the Board of Directors would operate more properly if it had a majority of outside directors," we verified this hypothesis by showing the ratio of outside directors on the Board of Directors. As a result, it was confirmed that shifting to a company with a nominating committee, etc., where a legal nominating committee is established, is a promising way for the appropriate operation of the nominating committee to function. It was also found that in many companies with other organizational forms, outside directors do not constitute a majority of the board of directors in a limited number of companies, and that there is no small possibility that the nominating committee is not operating properly. In this article, I would like to update the above analysis as new indications were found in the data as of the end of September 2021.

Japan's Governance: Nomination Committee Update

Japan

The TOPIX, also known as the Tokyo Stock Price Index, is a capitalization-weighted index of all companies listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The index is supplemented by the subindices of the 33 industry sectors. The index calculation excludes temporary issues and preferred stocks, and has a base value of 100 as of January 4, 1968.

TSE Tokyo Price Index TOPIX (TPX INDEX)

Japan's Governance: Cash Holdings

Grouped by ％ of cash equivalents to total assets, the results will be tested on performance indices and corporate governance criteria. This is...

Metrical Inc

Japan's Governance: Electronic Voting

The high and low ratios of independent directors clearly correspond to the status of support for electronic voting and the provision of convocation...

Metrical Inc

Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP): Passive Buying + Buyback Will Mop Up MOF Offering

The MOF offering of Japan Post Holdings will remove the overhang from the stock. The passive buying from index trackers plus the buyback will...

Brian Freitas

Japan's Governance: Woman Directors

This analysis of % of female directors and performance indicators is in line with the positive reports from other research institutions that...

Metrical Inc

Japan's Governance: Nomination Committee Update

For the 1st time we found a significant correlation between nominating committee score and performance indicator. This would be an incentive for...

Metrical Inc