Category

ESG

May 27
0

Daily Brief ESG: Is Now Time to Move Forward with Efforts to Raise % Female Board Directors and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Is Now Time to Move Forward with Efforts to Raise % Female Board Directors, Even Matching Numbers?

Is Now Time to Move Forward with Efforts to Raise % Female Board Directors, Even Matching Numbers?

By Aki Matsumoto

  • It is good to see that affirmative action has increased the number of women managerial positions in ITOCHU. This is presumably due to the increase in foreign ownership.
  • The non-statutory executive officers are not in a legally responsible position and are not involved in management decisions. 2 female independent non-executive directors do not have a management background.
  • Looking at the board compositions, one notices many issues, but AGMs of many companies are concentrated in June, making it difficult to take the time to scrutinize the convocation notices.

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May 25
0

Daily Brief ESG: A Company that Performs Well Has Shareholders with Influential Equity Interests and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • A Company that Performs Well Has Shareholders with Influential Equity Interests

A Company that Performs Well Has Shareholders with Influential Equity Interests

By Aki Matsumoto

  • The biggest difference between founder family companies and others is the shareholding, and the presence of certain percentage of founder family’s equity would have positive impact on management and performance.
  • When the founding family is a major shareholder, they can manage the company from the same perspective as shareholders, sharing the same goal of maximizing corporate value with them.
  • A company with shareholders with equity interests that exceed a certain level of influence cannot manage without regard to its shareholders. MBOs are also expected for founder family companies.

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May 23
0

Daily Brief ESG: Without a Disciplined Cash Allocation in a Company and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Without a Disciplined Cash Allocation in a Company, Share Repurchases Are Welcome to Investors

Without a Disciplined Cash Allocation in a Company, Share Repurchases Are Welcome to Investors

By Aki Matsumoto

  • Since most Japanese companies at this point have more cash on hand than they need, it is only natural that they will step up shareholder returns, including share buybacks.
  • The reason why many companies have more cash on hand than necessary due to lack of investment for growth is because they do not have a disciplined cash allocation.
  • If the company does not have a disciplined cash allocation, share repurchases that lead to allocations to the most effective investments at the investor’s discretion are welcome to the investor.

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May 21
0

Daily Brief ESG: Smartkarma Webinar | Promoting Sustainability in ASEAN: Rise of the Green Economy and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Smartkarma Webinar | Promoting Sustainability in ASEAN: Rise of the Green Economy
  • Many Companies in Japan Are Still Hesitant to Hire the Talent They Need

Smartkarma Webinar | Promoting Sustainability in ASEAN: Rise of the Green Economy

By Smartkarma Research

In the next installment of our Webinar series, in collaboration with ASEAN Exchanges, we go live with Smartkarma Insight Provider Sharmila Whelan. 

  • Due to the region’s fast-growing urban areas and proximity to coastal regions, ASEAN is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

  • Even as countries in ASEAN pursue economic growth, these efforts cannot be isolated from a focus on sustainability. Achieving sustainable growth will open the doors to not just unprecedented, future-forward opportunities, but also large-scale risks and challenges that demand innovative solutions.

  • Understanding the myriad benefits that a green economy brings, ASEAN countries have taken several steps to accelerate their green transition.

Join us as Sharmila Whelan shares her thoughts on ASEAN’s energy transition, discussing carbon emission trends, national clean energy policies, green financing progress, and the region’s fastest ESG adopters.

The webinar will be hosted on Wednesday, 4 June 2025, 16:30 SGT/HKT.

Register for the Webinar here

Sharmila Whelan is a seasoned Global Geopolitical-Macro Strategist with nearly three decades of experience advising buy-side clients on multi-asset investment strategies and asset allocations. Her career has been defined by her differentiated thinking, a deep understanding of the interlinkages between global geopolitics, macro and policy dynamics and Austrian business cycle approach to economic analysis. Sharmila has extensive experience in both developed and emerging markets, particularly in China and India, and a proven track record of accurately forecasting investment risks and opportunities ahead of consensus.

Many Companies in Japan Are Still Hesitant to Hire the Talent They Need

By Aki Matsumoto

  • Given the rapid aging of Japan’s population, if the current composition of the board of directors continues, the number of directors will further age in the future.
  • A board that embraces diverse age range is likely to embrace people with diverse backgrounds and skillsets, and a diverse board composition is likely to have positive impact on management.
  • In Japan, with strong peer pressure, CEOs controlling human resources, % independent directors and female board members in 40% and 15%, many companies are hesitant to hire talent they need.

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May 20
0

Daily Brief ESG: Reasons Why the TSE’s Request to “improve IR System” Seems to Be Ineffective This Time and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Reasons Why the TSE’s Request to “improve IR System” Seems to Be Ineffective This Time

Reasons Why the TSE’s Request to “improve IR System” Seems to Be Ineffective This Time

By Aki Matsumoto

  • TSE plans to mandate the development of IR system, but since most companies disclosed that they have already taken action, fewer companies will move to do something from now on.
  • Analysis of IR disclosure and stock valuations showed that IR disclosure scores did not differ among the five groups of companies by percentage change in Tobin’s Q. 
  • The fact that many companies haven’t been able to provide capital profitability and management strategies that investors seek has led to reluctance to hold briefings to communicate with overseas investors.

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May 17
0

Daily Brief ESG: Another Reason Companies Are Reluctant to Disclose in English and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Another Reason Companies Are Reluctant to Disclose in English, and Not Just Because of the Cost

Another Reason Companies Are Reluctant to Disclose in English, and Not Just Because of the Cost

By Aki Matsumoto

  • Even in 93.8% of prime companies that disclose financial results in English, many disclose only summaries and financial statements in English, while few provide qualitative information and notes in English. 
  • The belief that the company doesn’t provide sufficient information to shareholders to control AGM is common to reluctance to disclose documents in English, which are highly demand by overseas investors.
  • The idea of “not wanting to provide overseas investors with sufficient information,” which has ingrained in many companies, is opposed to movement to “improve the quality of dialogue with investors.”

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May 15
0

Daily Brief ESG: Need to Shift from Obsession with Controlling AGM to Sharing the Value of Engagement and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Need to Shift from Obsession with Controlling AGM to Sharing the Value of Engagement

Need to Shift from Obsession with Controlling AGM to Sharing the Value of Engagement

By Aki Matsumoto

  • The fact that the FSA did not request filing “more than three weeks in advance” rather than “a few days before the AGM” suggests how much resistance companies are encountering.
  • It is not easy to get a company that is concerned about losing control of an AGM to allow the AGM to be moved to a later date.
  • The tactic of controlling AGM is opposite of interacting with shareholders. Companies that have already converted to management that creates value through engagement aren’t expected to adhere to such tactics.

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May 13
0

Daily Brief ESG: Management Strategy Before Starting a Constructive Dialogue with Investors and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Management Strategy Before Starting a Constructive Dialogue with Investors

Management Strategy Before Starting a Constructive Dialogue with Investors

By Aki Matsumoto

  • It is expected that there will be cases where investors and companies will have different views on “what constitutes constructive dialogue,” which will be added to the revised Stewardship Code. 
  • This revision would be unfortunate if it is used only to secure affirmative votes for company agendas and to seek a compromise on shareholder proposals.
  • Before starting constructive dialogue with investors, a company must have business strategy that is “conducive to sustainable growth” or engagement will be waste of time and will not help management.

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May 11
0

Daily Brief ESG: With Transitional Measures Ending and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • With Transitional Measures Ending, Improving the Quality of Existing Listed Companies Will Be Key

With Transitional Measures Ending, Improving the Quality of Existing Listed Companies Will Be Key

By Aki Matsumoto

  • There are two possible ways to improve the quality of the TSE: one is to exit the market and the other is to improve quality in existing companies.
  • While few companies are still exiting through de-listing, fewer companies will migrate to other markets going forward, so the quality of existing listed companies must be improved.
  • Two years after the “TSE’s request,” the number of companies with P/Bs of less than 1x has not yet noticeably decreased, indicating that quality improvement is still a ways off.

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May 09
0

Daily Brief ESG: Common Attitudes Toward IPOs Are Found in Parent-Subsidiary Listings and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Common Attitudes Toward IPOs Are Found in Parent-Subsidiary Listings

Common Attitudes Toward IPOs Are Found in Parent-Subsidiary Listings

By Aki Matsumoto

  • The reason for slower reforming Growth Market seems to weigh on consideration for companies undergoing IPO review and coordination with stakeholders in IPO business. The investor’s perspective is missing here.
  • Growth market listed companies that do not receive overseas investor engagement have more difficulty than prime market companies in raising their market capitalization to meet listing retention criteria.
  • Behind the failure to grow after IPOs are many managers who view IPO as place to cash in their equity rather than place to obtain the capital needed for growth.

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