Japan Post begins selling investment trusts
Japan Post began selling investment trusts Monday through its nationwide post office network in what Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta called a “very historically meaningful” undertaking.
The public postal entity said the sale of investment trusts got off to a “stable start” as 1,220 individuals concluded 1,452 deals worth 1.08 billion yen or an average 885,000 yen per person.
Japan Post is selling three investment trusts at 575 post offices across the country. The minimum amount of investment is set at 10,000 yen.
Japan Post “must live up to thorough compliance,” Ikuta said during a ceremony held at Tokyo’s Shinjuku Post Office.
As personal financial assets in Japan, mainly held in savings, total 1,400 trillion yen, the government and the Bank of Japan hope the sale of investment trusts through post offices will help stimulate economic activity by promoting a flow of personal financial assets to investments.
Japan Post, for its part, hopes the sale of investment trusts will diversify its sources of income ahead of its planned privatization. The outstanding balance of postal savings peaked at around 260 trillion yen in fiscal 1999 and has since kept decreasing.
Japan Post plans to sell more funds through more post offices.
