We are pleased to announced that we have landed a deal with Nissay Asset Management (Nippon Life Insurance group), one of Japan’s largest asset Management businesses. The collaboration will enable Nissay AM to leverage Frontier’s insights and information to enhance its support for Japanese pension clients.
Frontier officially launched its Tokyo office in 2022 after many years of patiently assessing the Japanese market and building relationships across the local institutional investment sector. This agreement with Nissay AM marks a significant milestone for the influential Australian asset consulting firm, solidifying its presence in the region.
Nissay AM holds a strong position in Japan’s private pension market, managing around A$350 billion in assets. Their NAVIS platform offers pension clients access to a suite of market data, tools, and resources for asset allocation planning, complemented by expert advice from Nissay AM’s consulting team.
This follows the Japanese government introducing a set of “Asset Owner Principles” in an effort to raise the standard of the local asset management industry. The principles are designed to encourage asset owners to take more responsibility for their investment outcomes including engaging with external experts, such as asset consultants. Frontier has seized the opportunity to bring its model of independent and unconflicted advice to the broader Japanese market, where investors have previously relied largely on fund managers for insights and advice.
Our CEO, Andrew Polson, is enthusiastic about the partnership. “This is a landmark achievement for our business and to break ground in the Japanese market with an organisation of Nissay AM’s calibre, is incredibly exciting,” said Andrew.
“The timing is also significant in this, Frontier’s 30th year of providing services to the market. Our founders may not have envisaged taking the business into markets like Japan back at our inception, but the value contained in quality insights and advice, free from product conflicts, is more relevant than ever. And, that value can extend to asset owners in all parts of the world, not just here in Australia.”
Yuichi Tanaka, Managing Director at Nissay AM Asset Management, shared the excitement in the new partnership. “NAVIS represents an industry first in the Japanese corporate pensions market, offering plan sponsors timely information, advanced analytics and active, informed dialogue with advisers on asset allocation. Frontier’s insights and intelligence perfectly complement what we aim to deliver through NAVIS.
“Our goal at Nissay AM is to be a ‘success partner’ with our clients and we think this partnership with Frontier will help us achieve that vision and may even lead to the co-development of new services”, explained Yuichi.
Frontier sees a growing demand among Japanese asset owners for advice in the real assets sector, where it has built a strong reputation. Frontier played a pivotal role in advising Australian superannuation funds to invest in property and infrastructure early on, a position that has powered the strong returns of the industry fund sector over many decades since. This expertise has driven Frontier’s decision to establish a foothold in Tokyo and hire a seasoned local operative in Yuichi Alex Takayama, its Head of Japan.
“The Japanese institutional investor market is large, but complicated, and it has been tough to find the right way to deliver what Frontier has accumulated in Australia to the Japanese institutional investors. But working closely with Nissay AM over many months, we believe we have developed a unique approach together,” said Alex. “We’re excited to begin this partnership, which will be a great support to our broader Japanese venture.”
It seems Frontier might have picked its time expertly, with a surge in Japanese investment into Australia. According to recent MSCI data, Japanese investors have deployed more than A$5 billion into Australian commercial property alone in the last two years, more than double the previous 23 years.
This unique partnership between Frontier and Nissay AM signals an exciting new chapter in both firms’ commitment to providing valuable, independent investment advice to the Japanese market.
