Networking sessions for the winning teams of the Nikkei Stock League Contest and Nomura employees were held in Tokyo on March 26 and Osaka in March 28. The sessions consisted of a presentation by the students and a Q&A session.

The Nomura Group has been supporting the Nikkei Stock League Contest, a stock portfolio report competition, for 13 years. The purpose of these sessions is to provide students with opportunities to present what they have written in their reports to investment specialists in Nomura and receive direct feedback.

Seven teams, including the 1st prize team from Ochanomizu University Senior High School, participated in the Tokyo session and six teams, including Doshisha University, which won the top prize in the university section, participated in Osaka. Although it was not easy to condense 50 page plus reports into five-minute presentations, all participants did their best to explain their report themes and listened carefully to commentators after the presentation. "It was great to receive advice directly. Younger student from my school who watched this presentation are highly motivated to participate in the contest next year," said one of student participants.

These sessions are also meaningful for Nomura employees. Comments from participants included: "I learned new ideas from young people by discussing with students and teachers who I don't normally have contact with." "It was a great opportunity to think of my current job when I saw how eager they are to try to change society by investment."

Nomura will continue to hold networking sessions and also provide various kinds of financial and economic education programs for the development of an efficient capital market to support the economy.