Japan Post began selling investment trusts Monday, marking a departure from an era where post offices only offered nonrisk financial services, such as deposits and life insurance.
The government and the Bank of Japan hope the move will help shift the roughly 1.4 quadrillion yen in financial assets held by individuals to investments instead of deposits and in turn invigorate the economy.
"It is a very significant moment in history for us to enter the field of risk products," Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta said at a ceremony at Shinjuku Post Office in Tokyo. According to Japan Post, some 1.08 billion yen worth of investment trusts were sold to 1,220 people Monday in what it called "a stable start."
Outstanding postal savings deposits peaked in fiscal 1999, and Japan Post, which is to be privatized after related bills currently in the Diet are passed, is hoping it can stem the outflow of savings by offering customers investment trusts while also securing commission revenue.
Investment trust management companies, for their part, see a lucrative business in being able to use the nationwide post office network to sell their products.