Theme①: How to Approach Investment From One's 40s and Beyond

• The talk session included both Ms. Kotona Kitano and Mr. Syunsuke Yamasaki, who had given speeches, as well as Ms. Tomu Muto (AKB48 member, weather forecaster, financial planner), who had given comments and questions and had lively conversations with both speakers after each speech—all three answered audience questions.
• Mr. Syunsuke Yamasaki said that when they talk about long-term investment, it seems to be aimed toward young people, but the basic idea remains the same even for those in their 40s and 50s. However, he said, because that period of life is when assets are formed to some degree and there are things to protect, people in this age group should be conscious of the balance between money to invest and money to reserve as term deposits. He also said he would like seniors to face investing in the same way—as there is talk of life expectancy moving into the 100s, the viewpoint that they should try to stretch their own money reasonably through asset management is becoming increasingly important.

• Ms. Kotona Kitano noted that many people who take the first step in investing forget the risks and follow the returns, and as a result, they get into high-risk products and suspicious investment talk. She also said that being aware that all financial products carry a risk and keeping in mind what would happen in the worst case is the minimum investment knowledge.

• Ms. Tomu Muto said that fear about losing money is normal, but if one starts with a small amount of money like 1000 JPY, even if it goes down by 10% only 100 JPY is lost. She continued by saying that such a small amount could be thought of as a learning experience and makes investing less scary. She also said that one's own money being involved naturally leads to studying asset management, and that increasing knowledge would reduce fear and failures gradually.

Senior Manager at Center for the Strategy of Emergence, the Japan Research Institute, Ltd. Ms. Makiko Hashizume

Sustainable Finance Basics

• Ms. Makiko Hashizume explained that sustainable finance is a form of financing that promotes protecting the global environment, resolving human rights issues, and becoming a sustainable society. She said that against the backdrop of the world starting to pay attention to environmental and social issues through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, the time has come for financing that will improve the environment and society, such as investing in clean energy businesses and financing companies that are actively trying to improve their work environments. She also pointed out that stagnant economic activity caused by COVID-19 spreading led to changes in the way we work, a temporary improvement in environmental pollution, etc., and those led to rethinking traditional corporate activities.
  

Store Manager (Machida) at Marui Group Co., Ltd. (Former CEO of tsumiki Securities Co., Ltd.) Ms. Asumi Kantake

How to Select Investment Trusts, for Beginners!

• Ms. Asumi Kantake first explained that investment trusts are services in which professionals invest in financial products (such as stocks and bonds) both nationally and internationally on behalf of customers. She continued by saying that they are financial products with low hurdles for beginners and with the benefits of starting to invest from a small amount—even 100 yen—and reducing risk by combining financial products for diversified investments.
  
  

Theme①: How to Measure a Company's Level of Consideration toward Environmental Issues

• The talk session included both Ms. Makiko Hashizume and Ms. Asumi Kantake, who had given speeches, as well as Ms. Tomu Muto, who came back to the stage after the first half talk session (Investment Basics) to answer audience questions.
• Ms. Asumi Kantake suggested that although it is difficult to judge consideration levels given that companies' environmental impacts vary by industry type and business conditions, one measure to use is the standard adopted by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), which manages pensions. She said that looking at the environment-related indices within the several ESG indices GPIF uses to select an investment destination can help determine how seriously the company is tackling environmental issues.

• Ms. Makiko Hashizume said that it is important to judge not only a company's image or the look of their product packaging but to also check facts from a trusted information source. She said that recently, many companies disclose information on their homepages and in integrated reports and urged people to thus make objective decisions based on data and figures, etc. She also stressed that they should take action carefully, such as putting decisions on hold if they cannot find relevant data or results.

• Ms. Tomu Muto expressed her view that the first step in considering ESG investment is to consider environmental and social issues as one's own. She said that while people may feel unsure about how the future will be, they can perhaps see nature that should be protected and the society that should be aimed for when thinking in relation to their own life plans. She continued by saying people should think actively about investing as a way to realize the future they envisioned and from the viewpoint of building their own assets.