Japanese Rival Chases Nomura

Mizuho Financial Group, Japan’s third-biggest bank by market value, has added to its team of Japan stock analysts in a bid to surpass top-ranked researcher Nomura.

Bloomberg reports that the Japanese bank hired Fumihide Goto from UBS AG to cover electronic parts makers and Kei Takahashi from Bank of America to study the telecommunications industry, said Yohei Osade, pan-Asia head of equities at Tokyo-based Mizuho Securities Co. The two are starting work Thursday, Osade said.

That brings the number of equities staff Mizuho has hired since August to at least 12 as the company looks to sustain a revival of its investment banking and brokerage operations. The recruiting may offer a reprieve to employees at securities firms after banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG pared payrolls in Tokyo in the year ended March.

'I want to make Mizuho a research house surpassing Nomura', Osade, 44, who joined the firm in September from Bank of America, said in an interview. 'We want to seize business from overseas firms that are scaling back Japan equity operations and act as an intermediary between investors and Japanese companies or issuers'.

Hit the link below to access the complete Bloomberg article:

Mizuho Seeks to Boost Japan Equity Research to Chase Nomura

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