James M. Ford

BofA Securities Japan Co., Ltd. (BofA Securities Japan) is the wholly-owned Japanese brokerage subsidiary of Merrill Lynch International, Inc., which is ultimately owned by Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). Founded in 1998, the firm was formerly known as Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co., Ltd. (MLJS) and changed their name to BofA Securities Co., Ltd. in line with grobal re-branding from BofA Merrill Lynch to BofA in 2020. They subsequently became BofA Securities Japan Co., Ltd. Headquartered in Tokyo, BofA Securities Japan provides stock and bond trading, capital markets, investment banking and other advisory services to corporate clients, financial institutions and government agencies.

Jefferies (Japan) Ltd. (JJ) is the Tokyo branch and subsidiary of US-based Jefferies Asia Holdings II Pte Ltd., ultimately held by Leucadia National Corp. (NYSE: LUK) in the US. Established in 1996, the firm focuses on Asian markets and provides brokerage and investment banking services to institutional and corporate clients located primarily in Asia and the Middle East. Their activities include sales and trading of Japanese equity, equity-linked and structured products, the distribution of equity research and execution services in cooperation with US and European offices and the provision of electronic connectivity throughout Asia. They issue equity shares through GDRs and ADRs, and are a leading issuer of convertible bonds, high-yield in particular. In-house research covers a variety of industries including the maritime sector, infrastructure, logistics, outsourcing, technology and IT. In addition to Japan, JJ focuses on countries such as China and India, providing a range of services to Chinese and Indian companies, including access to international equity and debt capital markets, securities underwriting, US public and private offerings and cross-border M&A advisory. They also cooperate with private equity and venture capital firms focused on the Chinese and Indian markets.

Macquarie Capital Securities (Japan) Ltd. (MCS-J) is a securities brokerage firm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Macquarie International Investments, which in turn is a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Ltd. (SY: MBL), based in Australia. Established in 2004 following the acquisition of the Asian equity division of ING Groep NV (NYSE: ING) by Macquarie, MCS-J provides trading and financial analysis services to Japanese and overseas institutions as well as hedge funds. The firm specializes in Japanese equity, economic research, fundamental research at the company level, quantitative analysis, information on infrastructure funds and other funds, equity derivatives and structured products. They also act as intermediary for Macquarie Bank in the equity-linked notes private placement market. The firm's analysts research themes including Japanese reflation, global industries and Asian technologies. MCS-J is located in Tokyo, and operates in close cooperation with Macquarie sales teams in London, Geneva, Frankfurt, New York and Boston.

Part of Haitong Securities Co., Ltd., Haitong International Japaninvest KK is a financial services company based in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese company provides fundamental coverage of over 400 companies across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Peoples' Republic of China, via their 'connect' coverage, and South Korea. The company also provides investors with a quantitative multi-factor screening of the parent company's rated universe of over 750 stocks, looking for financial strength and earnings reliability. The company conducts extensive 'corporate access' activities, connecting investors to the region's corporates, via conferences, events, field trips, and round tables, in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the US. The company has research sales offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and London, and complement those in New York and San Francisco. The company was founded by Rupert J. Eastwood.

Shared Research, Inc. is an independent investment research firm headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The firm was founded by Oleg Zuravljov in 2009. Shared Research provides institutional investors with internet-based research and information sharing platform that aggregates user editable reports on Japanese companies.