TOKYO: Five Japanese regional banks including Yamaguchi Financial Group have entered into capital tie-ups with Money Design, a fintech startup behind a “set and forget” online asset management service. The deal involves Yamaguchi, Bank of Kyoto, Musashino Bank, Hyakugo Bank and Toho Bank investing between 30 million yen and 100 million yen ($274,230 and $914,100) each through a new-share issuance by the developer of Theo, a so-called robo-adviser. The online investment service recommends ideal asset allocations based on users’ answers to simple questions, purchasing exchange-traded funds and managing the portfolios according to the recommendations.
The banks plan to use Theo to help customers manage assets efficiently, letting sales representatives at branches access the service from their tablet devices when recommending investments. They hope that the robo-adviser service will help them turn more young customers into investors. Staffing agency Recruit Holdings and taxi operator Nihon Kotsu are also among the investors in the latest round of Money Design’s capital raising, which has attracted 290 million yen in total. Three other banks including Chiba Bank became investors in Money Design in September.
