Geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic shocks put Japan in the spotlights last year, but the country’s corporate access and sales firms were prepared.
“Rising geopolitical risks and major macro events shifted focus away from a US-centric market toward greater interest in non-US markets, boosting attention on Japan, while we faced growing competitive pressure across Japan and overseas” was the summation of Atsushi Watanabe, managing director and head of APAC Corporate Access at Nomura Securities Co., Ltd.
This resulted in a broad demand for corporate access in Japan from a wide range of global investors, according to Watanabe, reflecting a market led by large-cap themes such as AI, semiconductors, defense, and financials.
“Demand for corporate access was skewed toward these large-cap names, with particularly strong interest in interactions with C-level management,” Watanabe said. “We aim to leverage our corporate access and content to expand into other products and services, deepen business relationships, and contribute to the firm as a whole.”
It also highlights why Nomura was once again voted No. 1 in Extel’s annual ranking of Top Corporate Access Providers in Japan.
To select the members of Extel’s 2026 leaderboard, participants in the 2026 Japan Research Team and Japan Executive Team Surveys were invited to provide feedback on the firms that provided the best corporate access based on specified attributes including conferences; logistics; field trips; road shows; team quality and expert access.
There was movement further down the rankings with SMBC Nikko Securities improving one spot to take runner-up in this year’s survey. Daiwa Securities Group dropped one place to third. Morgan Stanley was up a place to take fourth, and Mizuho rounded out the top five.
While corporate access has weathered challenges over the past five years—from pivoting to virtual and eventually hybrid offerings during the Covid pandemic to unprecedented investor demand—the formula for staying a top team means leaning into turbulent times, according to Watanabe.
“[We remain a top team] through hard work and teamwork, and by fostering a team that embraces difficult challenges,” Watanabe said.
Events in demand this year were ones that grasp diverse client needs, put ideas into concrete outcomes, and deliver in a timely manner, he added.
Respondents to this year’s survey also weighed in on the top conferences in the country as well, which were all held in Tokyo. BofA Securities Japan Conference was voted No.1 followed by Nomura’s Investment Forum (CEO Forum). The Japan Summit by Morgan Stanley in 2025 took third place, and SMBC Nikko Securities’ Japan Series Executive Conference was recognized for fourth. Japan Alpha Conference by Mizuho Securities rounded out the top five.
According to Watanabe, Nomura is exploring AI applications for corporate access to leverage its capabilities and remain agile.
This is also being explored by the sales arm of the firm, according to Yuki Saito, managing director and head of the equities sales department at Nomura Securities Co., Ltd.
“While we have not yet fully leveraged AI internally, we recognize that clients are using it to summarize research reports and analyze ratings against stock performance. We plan to accelerate AI implementation and integrate it into our sales activities,” Saito said.
Over the past year in equity sales, competition has intensified both in Japan and overseas. The institutional investor business has also faced severe buy and sell-side talent shortages, making the battle for top talent especially fierce, Saito added.
Amid a number of macro shocks in 2025—including Trump tariffs, heightened geopolitical risks, and rising inflation in Japan—Nomura has been focused on providing timely market analysis to clients. “We also prioritized in-person meetings and wide-ranging discussions to engage directly with clients and accurately capture their needs,” Saito said.
Respondents to Extel’s 2026 Japan Sales Team ranking appear to have felt that these needs were met: They have once again recognized Nomura as the top sales team in the country.
Nomura was voted No. 1 based on the responses from 354 investors at 215 firms that invited participants from the broader research survey based on six performance attributes.
In this year’s leaderboard Morgan Stanley had a meteoric rise from last year’s fourth place finish to take second place in the 2026 ranking. SMBC Nikko Securities maintained third place. Daiwa Securities Group and J.P. Morgan took fourth and fifth, respectively
Saito also credited the collaboration with the firm’s research team (which also topped Extel’s annual ranking) through a 25-city global "Buy Japan" campaign, which highlighted the country’s transformation. “To address diverse client requests, we worked closely with research, corporate access, and trading and execution team to showcase Nomura’s integrated capabilities and deliver comprehensive All-Nomura’ client coverage,” Saito said.
Looking forward, it is noteworthy that over the last year, although the Trump tariff shock was unforeseen, equity markets remained broadly resilient, Saito added.
Japanese equities continued the previous year’s strong performance, repeatedly posting new highs. “It is surprising that many investors still remain underweight, which suggests further upside potential in 2026,” Saito said. “Investment themes are concentrated in AI, semiconductors, and defense, with limited expansion into other sectors. From the sell side, we will continue to deliver differentiated investment ideas and innovative approaches.”
