BlackRock Inc. CEO Larry Fink sees echoes of Japan’s 1980s “economic miracle” in the nation’s current efforts to transform its economy, he told a roundtable including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday.
(Bloomberg) — BlackRock Inc. CEO Larry Fink sees echoes of Japan’s 1980s “economic miracle” in the nation’s current efforts to transform its economy, he told a roundtable including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday.
The event concluded two weeks of financial industry events in Tokyo hosted by former banker Kishida and his government that were aimed at attracting more asset managers to the country and nudging Japanese households to shift their savings into investments.
“History is repeating itself,” Fink told the gathering at the prime minister’s residence. “Japan is undergoing a series of extraordinary economic transformations. And from there echoes of that ‘80s miracle. I expect this miracle to last much longer,” he added.
Japan’s rapid economic expansion in the 1980s ended with a “burst bubble” as asset prices collapsed, and was followed by decades of low or negative growth.
Kishida told the gathering he wanted more of Japan’s ¥2,100 trillion in household assets to move into investments, increasing the value of companies and in turn bringing benefits back to households in a virtuous cycle.
Kishida Makes Fresh Bid to Lure Asset Managers to Japan
In a series of speeches, Kishida has pledged to reform the asset management industry in Japan by introducing more competition, and requiring transparency from pension funds and insurers. He has also promised deregulation to make the country more attractive to financial firms.
Tokyo slid to 21st place in the Global Financial Centres Index published in March, compared with 16th place in September 2022 and third place in 2020.
Other asset managers at the roundtable included Scott Nuttall, co-CEO of US private equity firm KKR & Co. and Dilhan Sandrasegara, CEO of Singapore state-owned investor Temasek Holdings.
–With assistance from Yuki Hagiwara and Nao Sano.
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