Takuya Koyama: Making Everyone an Investor

I turned 60 in March 2016. Looking back on my life, I entered the financial industry after graduation and spent a total of one-third of my career overseas and two-thirds in Japan. I was studying abroad in LA during the Los Angeles Olympics, working in the City of London when the Gulf War broke out, and even experienced serving as president in Frankfurt when the Euro was launched. After returning to Japan in 2000, I gained experience in the foreign asset management industry. Just before I turned 60, the president of the management company I was with at the time told me, 'Knowing you, if there's something you want to do, I'll release you at the milestone of 60.' I decided I wanted to take on a new challenge as the final chapter of my career.

At that time, I believed that 'FinTech' would become a new trend replacing existing businesses, and I was starting to look for ways I could contribute to that field. If people build assets properly from a young age, they can avoid the risk of running out of funds in old age and survive the era of the 100-year life. While I was wondering if there was a system that allowed for steady investment even before one has significant assets, I learned that 'investing with spare change' had grown into a major business in the U.S. two years ahead of Japan. Bringing the same business model to Japan was extremely difficult due to various barriers, but fortunately, I met some experienced friends and managed to establish TORANOTEC three years ago.

By downloading the asset-building app 'Toranoko,' users can track the spare change from their registered shopping data (credit cards, electronic money, etc.) for a monthly fee of 300 yen, making it possible to invest in investment trusts in increments of 1 yen starting from 5 yen. It is a system where the equivalent amount of spare change saved over a month is withdrawn from a bank account and automatically invested into an internationally diversified portfolio. Currently, the user base is expanding primarily among millennials, but it is not just for the youth. In the current environment where people in their mid-50s can work until around age 70, the senior generation can also build up assets with the feeling of a second pension. I believe people can truly experience the importance of saving steadily through the power of compound interest. With the slogan 'Making Everyone an Investor,' TORANOTEC sincerely hopes that a wide range of people will start investing.