Companies around the world are increasingly being questioned about their reason for being. It is important they consider this as they scale up and generate profits to continue to exist. That alone is not enough. Employees must also ask themselves why they work at the company.
Nomura turns 100 next year. I want to make this milestone an important occasion for us to show our gratitude to our clients and other stakeholders who have supported us over the years. I also wanted to have our people think about their own purpose, why they work at Nomura and what they want to achieve with us.
As part of our activities in the lead up to our 100th anniversary, we launched the Nomura Purpose Journey project in 2021. Following discussions by over 10,000 people globally, we announced the Nomura Group Purpose in April 2024: "We aspire to create a better world by harnessing the power of financial markets".
By supporting the flow of risk capital through the financial markets, we help companies invest for growth so they can return the fruits of their success to investors who can build up their assets and reach for a better life. This in turn drives economic growth and advances society as a whole.
We will move forward together with our clients and other stakeholders to help them achieve their aspirations and make things better. This is equally important internally. We will support our people as they work towards achieving their aspirations without fear of failure so Nomura Group can continue to grow.
We have also set out a management vision for 2030 based on our new Purpose: Reaching for Sustainable Growth. As we head to 2030, we aim to consistently achieve ROE of 8 to 10 percent or more and income before income taxes of 500 billion yen.
Our diverse talent pool and wide range of values are the source of our competitive strengths. Nomura Securities came to life in 1925 with only 84 people. Now, we operate across approximately 30 countries and regions with a global team of 27,000 from 90 nationalities. That remarkable growth is the result of responding to the trust our clients place in us and because we have remained an essential part of society.
Being brave enough to take on a challenge no one has done before has been ingrained in Nomura's DNA since our founding. Nomura is what it is today because we have relentlessly pursued new challenges and constantly evolved.
The current focus on Japan is an exciting opportunity for Nomura. By fully leveraging our global franchise and stepping it up a notch, we can deliver steady results and achieve sustainable growth.
Each of us at Nomura will work even harder to meet the expectations of our shareholders, clients, and other stakeholders.
Kentaro Okuda
President and Group CEO
August 2024