CASE45 Supporting MA Alternatives' Entry into Tokyo and the Establishment of Its Business Platform: Expanding Access to Alternative Investments as a New Option in Japan's Asset Management Market
Representative Director
Mr. Junji Kawahara
Head of Operations and Administration
Mr. Kazuyuki Ueda
MA Alternatives K.K. is a joint venture established by MA Financial Group--an Australian asset management firm--and its partners, and commenced operations in Tokyo in 2023.
The company focuses on sourcing alternative investment opportunities from around the world and providing them to high-net-worth individuals and retail investors in Japan.
Alternative investments refer to asset classes other than traditional investments such as equities and bonds, and include music royalties, real estate, infrastructure, venture capital, and private equity. Historically, access to these investment opportunities has been largely limited to institutional investors and a select group of wealthy individuals, making them difficult for the broader retail investor base in Japan to access.
By fractionalizing these investment products, the company aims to make them accessible to individual investors and contribute to the expansion of the alternative investment market in Japan.
In addition to offering investment products, the company aspires to build, in the future, a platform that is similar to leading global examples such as iCapital and CAIS (both based in the United States). These firms provide digitalized and standardized access to complex alternative investment products, enabling financial advisors and investors to efficiently access them. MA Alternatives seeks to establish a comparable ecosystem within the Japanese market.
Support by Business Development Center TOKYO (BDCT)
- Application for Overseas Financial Corporation Business Establishment Subsidy Program (2024)
- Application for Overseas Financial Corporation Establishment and Support Subsidy Program (2025)
Reason for choosing to establish the company in Tokyo
Japan represents one of the world's largest pools of household financial assets, and the asset management sector is expected to offer significant growth potential. In addition, the Japanese government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government have been actively promoting the vision of Japan as a leading asset management center, including initiatives to support the entry of foreign financial institutions--an important factor in our decision-making process.
Furthermore, while we previously accessed the Japanese market through external partners, this approach presented limitations in terms of speed and flexibility in business development. As a result, we determined that establishing our own local presence would be essential to more proactively drive market expansion, leading to our decision to establish operations in Tokyo.
User feedback on BDCT services
The Overseas Financial Corporation Business Establishment Subsidy Program, for which we applied through BDCT, contributed significantly to stabilizing our cash flow during the initial start-up phase, when we had not yet generated revenue while our financial license application was underway. While certain administrative aspects of the program would require adjustment, the subsidy played a meaningful role in alleviating the financial burden associated with early-stage market entry.
Entering the Japanese market involves complex regulations and procedures, particularly when dealing with the Financial Services Agency (FSA), and it takes time to fully understand the regulatory framework. Against this backdrop, the practical guidance and support provided by BDCT in navigating the subsidy application process were highly valuable in helping us complete the application smoothly and efficiently.
Outlook for future business development
Going forward, we aim to establish ourselves as a platform for delivering a diverse range of globally sourced alternative investment products to the Japanese market. In particular, by expanding distribution through independent financial advisors (IFAs) to retail investors, we intend to broaden access to alternative investments--traditionally concentrated among institutional investors--to include high-net-worth and individual investors.
At the same time, we will identify investment opportunities not yet available in the Japanese market and pursue product differentiation. By strengthening connectivity with global markets, we aim to provide investors with a diverse range of sophisticated investment opportunities. Through these initiatives, we seek to contribute to the broader adoption of alternative investments and the continued development of the market in Japan.