JPMorgan & Chase Co. plans to double the assets it manages for Japanese individuals and open branches here to grab a greater share of household wealth.
The U.S. bank will open its first branch for Japanese asset management in Osaka on Monday and is considering opening outlets in Nagoya and Fukuoka, Keiichi Miki, president of JPMorgan Asset Management Ltd., said Thursday in Tokyo.
It plans to double the size of assets it manages for Japanese retail customers to ¥4 trillion by the end of 2009, from ¥2 trillion, he said.
JPMorgan wants a bigger share of the $13 trillion in financial assets held by individuals by cooperating more with Japanese banks and brokerages that sell its investment trusts through their nationwide branch networks.
Net assets of investment trusts doubled to ¥82 trillion in Japan in the two years and six months to June 2007, according to the Investment Trusts Association in Tokyo.
"We want to get our foot in the door in the expanding asset management business," by opening branches and hiring people, Miki said.
New York-based JPMorgan, which has taken out advertisements at railway stations in Osaka, added 60 staff this year to its Japan asset management unit, taking the total to 320.
JPMorgan plans to organize seminars for sales staff at about 100 financial companies in Japan that sell the firm's investment products, Miki said.