Nomura Trust and Banking

Nomura Trust and Banking is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, established in 1993 to extend the group's capabilities into trust banking. It functions as the fiduciary arm of Nomura's asset management and administration business, distinct from Nomura Securities' brokerage operations. The trust bank complements Nomura's broader wealth and institutional strategy in Japan.

The firm primarily manages corporate pension fund assets, defined contribution plans, real estate trust arrangements, and private equity fund-of-funds on behalf of Japanese institutional investors. Its real estate business includes land trusts, asset management, and brokerage services for corporate clients. Core capabilities center on domestic fixed income, real estate, and multi-manager private equity allocations.

The firm invests primarily through fund-of-funds structures for private equity and alternative assets, pooling capital from Japanese corporate pension clients into diversified fund vehicles. On the real estate side, it conducts direct asset-level transactions including land trusts and brokerage. Pension portfolios also include direct fixed income and equity mandates managed via Nomura Asset Management.

It acts as a trustee and administrator for a substantial book of Japanese corporate defined benefit and defined contribution plans, handling plan accounting, recordkeeping, benefit payments, and trustee oversight. The firm also provides discretionary investment management for these pension assets. This dual role of administrator and fiduciary manager is a hallmark of Japan's trust bank model.

Unlike Japan's megabank-affiliated trust banks (Mitsubishi UFJ Trust, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, Mizuho Trust), Nomura Trust and Banking operates without a commercial bank balance sheet, eliminating lending conflicts. Its independence from deposit-taking banks allows the firm to present itself as solely focused on investment management and fiduciary services, a structural difference that aligns more closely with asset manager interests than bank cross-selling targets.