Bloomberg's Takeover Bid for BlackBerry, the Business Mobile Marriage

Now that JPMorgan and RBC have been hired as investment banking advisers to actively find a sale for BlackBerry, when will a Bloomberg bid or talks about it finally be released?

Emerging markets in Asia and the business community are now re-signing with BlackBerry after the Z10/Q10 release gained solid traction. Bloomberg has a solid core of 300,000 direct-terminal users worldwide, with over 900,000 when including shared access. Bloomberg also has a magazine readership with Businessweek worldwide in a variety of languages that will serve as a core consumer base for Bloomberg.

Since the release of the Z10 with its fast OS and full size smartphone look, smart phone users finally have a new larger screen to upgrade. The Q10 has the same faster OS but with the traditional keyboard that long-term loyal BlackBerry users AKA "CrackBerry" users like the president of the United States, Barack Obama prefer. This may not move the needle within traditional US markets, but if growth can be found in fast growing markets and slowly regain the business user in North America and Europe that could be the best way forward for BlackBerry.

Few outside of finance know but Bloomberg has been encouraging financial third parties to create special APPs; mainly for BlackBerry users that would smoothly integrate Bloomberg financial data at a corporate level for various banks and securities firms. The Android wave of growth has been strong and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) has even started within financial firms, but no major mobile virus has spread yet. This BlackBerry security advantage will be another reason for Bloomberg to takeover BlackBerry and ensure a secure mobile future for the most secure business platform.

Long before Facebook, Bloomberg was already the oldest Social Media platform making BlackBerry a logical extension.

Lets hope JPMorgan or RBC will announce the talks once they begin as it seems to be the most logical takeover bid for both sides.

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.

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      Mark Pink                                            Shinichi Nagasawa

What Does It Take To Be An Equity Sales Trader In Japan

Another innovative, fun and fresh way to communicate your job description.

Interested in learning more?  Contact us at resume@tmjpartners.com to learn more.

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.

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        Mark Pink                                             Shinichi Nagasawa 

Massive Inflow into Japan, Often from China Redemptions

Last week was July 31st, the last chance for many long only and hedge fund portfolio managers to justify returns on capital before a redemption decision.  Most investors have a 30-45 day notice cycle if they want to take their money back before the end of a quarter. If investors see a better return on capital from October 1st, that means in many cases they have to redeem between August 15 - 30. In fact, investors are looking to massively move China dedicated capital into Japan.

If you are running a portfolio as a hedge fund prop trader or a long only fund manager, these dates are important as they determine your income. No major money to run means no major bonus to look forward to.  Some poor performers always get nervous around redemption time. It is the season for excuses.  The industry knows the rules, and if you are a "beta jockey" riding a positive wave, your luck will end, and so will your capital base.  Only "Alpha PMs" win long term in this game.  Winning performers gain the most capital when returns have to be counted and allocated.

This year has been one of change: last December 2012 was a warning short for Japanese markets - a new prime minister, one of many, was actually going to change things for the better. If you heard that message early you rode a huge wave of positive beta first and booked positive alpha later.  Many Pan-Asia PMs that we speak to have debated how long Japan will have legs and if a China collapse will take place.  If you thought Japan would be a little pop you were wrong.  If you thought China would collapse you were wrong again.  The winners in the mix have seen China as dead money this year and moved capital allocations into Japan. Then these true "Alpha Players" of the market today picked shorts over the last three months and booked more profits for Japan.

At TMJ Partners, we listen to the Alpha players everyday, and contrast their opinions with the beta jockeys soon to be forgotten. Our professional market observations & insight let our financial clients know where to be before their rivals, and stay profitable. When it comes to client focus it is always win/win.

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.

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    Mark Pink                                              Shinichi Nagasawa

Japan's Election, New Casinos, TPP & JGB Debt

The recent election in Japan on July 21 gives Prime Minister Abe control of both houses in the Japanese parliament. What English language media are not talking about is what it means for new casinos in Japan, and the ability to tax them and pay off Japanese Government Bond Debt. The plan for Japanese casinos will spread across the country connected to airports as the big whale gamblers are expected to be Asian tourists, especially mainland Chinese visitors.

Overseas investors have constantly complained of poor ability of future tax payers to pay for this debt. However, none of these investors seem to be aware of the coming casinos to Japan. These will not be private and therefore not run by the yakuza, or other overseas gangsters. They will pay into the government coffers and may even reduce national tax rates over time. The most likely central Tokyo location is scheduled to be in Odaiba; already in close vicinity to many hotels, and close to Tokyo's Haneda airport. An opening date of the first Japanese Casino is on July 1st, 2015. Due to pre-planning already in place, this is a reasonable soft target.

The Trans Pacific Partnership moves will now gain traction. It will bring more trade and travel to the region, and will certainly be boosted by new casinos in Japan. More visas to Japan are about to be boosted by Chinese tourist groups. This not a surprise to anyone walking around Ginza on any given day. Any observer can now see who is paying for the luxury goods in Japan' luxury stores. It is no longer local Japanese, but Chinese tourists. They feel comfortable buying luxury brands that are never fake, and occasionally even special editions unique to Japan. This all adds more appeal to the traveling tourist from Asia. Ginza stores are the perfect excuse to spend your Japanese Casino winnings in future years.

In the coming weeks and months, more details about these new Japanese casinos will spread in the English media. The connection and financial insight coming from this election into this new trend will impact retail sales, hotel bookings, restaurant reservations and short term travel. All future P/L will change in Japan. 

At TMJ Partners, we know finance, and we try and be in the right place at the time. With our professional market insight, we let our financial clients know where to be before their rivals.

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.

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       Mark Pink                                               Shinichi Nagasawa

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Email pinkmark@tmjpartners.com                 Email nagasawa@tmjpartners.com

The Top 20 Global Banks are Increasingly Chinese, not American

Recently Fortune Magazine US released a list of the top 500 corporations. Within this list are the top 20 global banks based on revenue. Overall China claims four of them including ICBC (Industrial & Commercial Bank of China) the largest of them all, topping the global list with US$133.6BN in revenue. This makes ICBC more than twice the size of Deutsche Bank.

In fact four of the top ten banks on the list are Chinese, and only one is a Japanese bank - How the world has changed in just five years after Lehman Brothers collapsed. It is indeed a "brave new world", as James Bond 007 said in Skyfall, and I would tend to agree. Was it so long ago that Japan dominated the global-landscape of bank names with domestic firms virtually unknown in the global area? It is hard to now believe that in 1993 Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank was the largest bank in the world (ranked by assets), although few outside of Japan would have recognized the name. 

The players have indeed changed with only four of the top twenty on the list now being US firms. How can that be? Only four US banks is equal to China. Is that possible in 2013? What will the same list be like in another five years? Some financial analysts we deal with focus on financial sectors and some clients claim there is a ticking "time bomb of Chinese defaulting debt", but only time will tell. 

Others claim that Japan's bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, may fall from the list when the JGB debt explodes. Kyle Bass, a well known and vocal hedge fund managers says "this is in the cards", again time will tell. Some financial analysts we deal with are laser focused on financial sectors and know which case may be true and what may be a false skew. It is always about knowing which professionals have the best insight. At Experis Finance we know the right professionals and due to our global network we sharpen that edge every day.

Source - Fortune Magazine

From Here is the City

Fortune magazine has just released its Global 500 list of the world's largest corporations (as per 2012 revenues).

He's the top 20 banks (Global 500 ranking in brackets):

1(29). Industrial & Commercial Bank of China - $133.6bn revenues

2(41). BNP Paribas - $123.0bn

3(50). China Construction Bank - $113.3bn

4(55). JPMorgan Chase - $108.1bn

5(58). Banco Santander - $106.0bn

6(60). HSBC - $105.2bn

7(61). Societe Generale - $105.0bn

8(64). Agricultural Bank of China - $103.4bn

9(66). Bank of America - $100.0bn

10(70). Bank of China - $98.4bn

11(73). Credit Agricole - $95.1bn

12(78). Wells Fargo - $91.2bn

13(79). Citigroup - $90.7bn

14(85). Lloyds Banking Group - $86.8bn

15(116) Banco Do Brasil - $72.0bn

16(130). Deutsche Bank - $67.4bn

17(163). Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group - $57.3bn

18(168). Banco Bradesco - $55.9bn

19(177). Barclays - $54.6bn

20(180). Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg - $53.8bn

The 500 largest corporations in the world

Source - Fortune magazine

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.

Tokyo                                                              Tokyo

      Mark Pink                                             Shinichi Nagasawa