Latest news with #AkihikoOgino
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Daiwa pauses M&A hiring as tariff uncertainty chokes deal flow
Daiwa Securities boss Akihiko Ogino said the Japan brokerage won't be pushing to add staff working on mergers and acquisitions, providing a downbeat assessment on the impact to dealmaking from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy. "We had originally planned to steadily increase the headcount, but I have issued an instruction to hold it for a bit,' Ogino said in a recent interview. The assessment from Japan's second-largest brokerage indicates how changes in global trade policy are rippling through spending activity as finance firms around the world signal investment banking fees could decline amid the turbulence. "Typically, April and May aren't months when many deals come through, even in a normal year,' Ogino said. "But this year, it's been even harder for deals to emerge.' Daiwa has for years been recruiting dealmakers in regions such as the U.S. and Europe as part of its plan to enlarge the global M&A team to 900 bankers by March 2031. Both profit and revenue from the investment banking department reached a record high last financial year, a welcome development for Ogino and his predecessor Seiji Nakata who worked for years to strengthen merger advisory operations. "We have a lot of dry powder, so once things settle down, they may move very quickly,' Ogino said, in a reference to potential advisory deals in his firm's pipeline. The company could then resume the headcount expansion, he said. Daiwa is weighing overhauling its investment banking arm in China after losses at the Beijing-based subsidiary more than doubled last year to a record 134.7 million yuan ($18.7 million), Ogino said. "As for unprofitable divisions, I feel we need to consider scaling them down or right-sizing them to a more appropriate level,' he said. "We had high expectations for investment banking business in China but the results had fallen short of what we had anticipated.' Daiwa and its larger domestic competitor, Nomura, had entered Asia's biggest economy with high hopes, but ended up struggling with a slew of setbacks including those wrought by the U.S.-China trade tensions. Back in Japan, Ogino said the recent rout in government bonds with maturities longer than 10 years is causing a headache for his firm, making it more challenging to manage positions for its yen interest rates trading business. "We are having a hard time,' Ogino said, when asked how Daiwa's JGB trading business has done since April. He said the volatility experienced was likely because players including hedge funds are now in the market, and investors will gradually resume purchases of long-term debt "once things start to settle down.'
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Daiwa Pauses M&A Hiring as Tariff Uncertainty Chokes Deal Flow
By and Ryo Horiuchi Save Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boss Akihiko Ogino said the Japan brokerage won't be pushing to add staff working on mergers and acquisitions, providing a downbeat assessment on the impact to dealmaking from US President Donald Trump's trade policy. 'We had originally planned to steadily increase the headcount, but I have issued an instruction to hold it for a bit,' Ogino said in a recent interview.
