Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ms-ad-insurance-group-holdings" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:631:1" rel="noopener">MS&amp;AD Insurance (8725 JP)</a> had a stake over US$100m in at least 29 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of US$17.4bn.</li>
<li>In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.</li>
</ul>


The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings.

MS&amp;AD Insurance (8725 JP) had a stake over US$100m in at least 29 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of US$17.4bn.
In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.


MS&AD Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$20bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

<ul>
<li>Yesterday, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/west-japan-railway-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12077:1" rel="noopener">West Japan Railway Co (9021 JP)</a> announced <a href="https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ir/library/flash-report/pdf/fr202404.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FY23 earnings</a>, a <a href="https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ir/news/2025/pdf/en_20240430_01.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">higher dividend</a>, an <a href="https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ir/library/meeting/pdf/presen20240430.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">update to the Medium-Term Management Plan</a> (p10~), and a Buyback.</li>
<li>Short &amp; Sweet:  Revenues were +17.2%yoy, OP +114.1%, NP +1.6%. OPM was 11.0% and ROE 9.2% (both best since FY18). Guidance is Revenue up, OP down, NP tiny up.</li>
<li>The new FY25 (Mar26) OP guide in the MTMP is the old Mar28 target (mostly inbound tourism-driven). The Buyback is biggish. It is worth looking at the details. </li>
</ul>


Yesterday, West Japan Railway Co (9021 JP) announced FY23 earnings, a higher dividend, an update to the Medium-Term Management Plan (p10~), and a Buyback.
Short &amp; Sweet:  Revenues were +17.2%yoy, OP +114.1%, NP +1.6%. OPM was 11.0% and ROE 9.2% (both best since FY18). Guidance is Revenue up, OP down, NP tiny up.
The new FY25 (Mar26) OP guide in the MTMP is the old Mar28 target (mostly inbound tourism-driven). The Buyback is biggish. It is worth looking at the details. 


JR West (9021 JP) - Shareholder Structure Means Large-Ish Buyback Could Have Impact

<ul>
<li>The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sompo-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:632:1" rel="noopener">Sompo Holdings (8630 JP)</a> had a stake over US$100m in at least 16 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of around US$6bn.</li>
<li>In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.</li>
</ul>


The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings.

Sompo Holdings (8630 JP) had a stake over US$100m in at least 16 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of around US$6bn.
In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.


Sompo Holdings Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$8bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>Key support levels on global equity indexes (EURO STOXX 50, $ACWX, $EFA) are beginning to break as the U.S. dollar (DXY) and 10-year Treasury yield break above $105.70 and 4.35%.</li>
<li>This significantly increases the odds of a break below major $92-$93 support on $ACWI, and we would shift to a more cautious outlook only on a break below $92.</li>
<li>We shifted to overweight value within non-U.S. equities last week, and we are now also shifting to overweight small-caps within non-U.S. equities as well. Buys in Transportation, Communications, and HealthCare</li>
</ul>


Key support levels on global equity indexes (EURO STOXX 50, $ACWX, $EFA) are beginning to break as the U.S. dollar (DXY) and 10-year Treasury yield break above $105.70 and 4.35%.
This significantly increases the odds of a break below major $92-$93 support on $ACWI, and we would shift to a more cautious outlook only on a break below $92.
We shifted to overweight value within non-U.S. equities last week, and we are now also shifting to overweight small-caps within non-U.S. equities as well. Buys in Transportation, Communications, and HealthCare


Supports Starting to Break; Upgrading Non-U.S. Small-Caps to Overweight; Transports/Comm/HC Buys

Japan Specialist

Mark Chadwick

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>OVERSEAS: The S&amp;P 500 lost 2.9% last week, its worst performance since March;  US Auto Strike expands; US budget talks fail - Govt shutdown risk rises. </li>
<li>JAPAN: Nikkei ends the week down -3.4%; BOJ downplays policy exit; Japan Core Inflation remains at 3.1% </li>
<li>JAPAN X: Phil Spencer, the head of gaming at Microsoft, was found to have expressed keen interest in acquiring Nintendo</li>
</ul>


OVERSEAS: The S&amp;P 500 lost 2.9% last week, its worst performance since March;  US Auto Strike expands; US budget talks fail - Govt shutdown risk rises. 
JAPAN: Nikkei ends the week down -3.4%; BOJ downplays policy exit; Japan Core Inflation remains at 3.1% 
JAPAN X: Phil Spencer, the head of gaming at Microsoft, was found to have expressed keen interest in acquiring Nintendo


Ohayo Japan: SPX -2.9%WoW as UAW Auto Strikes Expand; JapanX - Nintendo Is THE Prime Gaming Asset

Japan

Central Japan Railway Company provides rail transportation services between Tokyo and Osaka, including the Tokai region.  The Company, through its subsidiaries, also provides bus transportation services, leases real estate, and operates department stores, hotels, restaurants, and construction businesses.

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Central Japan Railway (9022 JP)

MS&AD Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$20bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

Along with its results announcement today, MS&AD announced that it will accelerate its cross-shareholding unwind and is targeting a sale of around...

Sumeet Singh

JR West (9021 JP) - Shareholder Structure Means Large-Ish Buyback Could Have Impact

JR West announced b/t/e earnings, and a large-ish buyback. The stock popped. Shareholder structure is such that IF cross-holders do not start...

Travis Lundy

Sompo Holdings Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$8bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings. Sompo had a stake of over...

Sumeet Singh

Supports Starting to Break; Upgrading Non-U.S. Small-Caps to Overweight; Transports/Comm/HC Buys

Support levels on global indexes (EURO STOXX 50, $ACWX, $EFA) beginning to break as $DXY and 10-year Treasury yield $TNX break above $105.70 and...

Vermilion Research

Ohayo Japan: SPX -2.9%WoW as UAW Auto Strikes Expand; JapanX - Nintendo Is THE Prime Gaming Asset

OVERSEAS: UAW strike continue; US Govt shutdown risk; JAPAN: Nikkei ends the week down -3.4%; BOJ downplays policy exit; Japan Core Inflation...

Mark Chadwick

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