Why is Money Forward Launching a Business Aimed at the Ultra-Wealthy? <Part 1>
We are excited to announce two new initiatives in our personal finance business.
*NISA (Nippon Individual Savings Account) is a tax-advantaged savings and investment account in Japan designed to encourage individual savings and investments.
Regarding the second initiative, some may wonder, "Why is Money Forward starting a business targeted at the ultra-wealthy?" I would like to share the background of this decision.
As a preface, in this blog post, I will first discuss our efforts in "household financial management to asset management and accumulation," which relates to the first initiative.
Beyond Understanding the Current Financial Situation
Since our inception in 2012, our mission has been "Money Forward. Move your life forward." We aim to help users move their lives forward, even if just a little. Our flagship product, "Money Forward ME," has grown to serve 15.3 million users, including 520,000 paying customers, thank you all for your support.
"Money Forward ME" currently allows users to link various bank and securities accounts, credit cards, etc., to manage income, expenses, and assets in one place, making your money visible. It's like a scale you step on daily to check your health, but for your financial health—a household accounting and asset management app that we have been diligently developing for 11 years.
Once users can easily grasp their financial situation, the next value we want to provide is "identifying challenges and offering solutions," which become apparent from understanding the current state.
To put it more casually, we want to create a world where using "Money Forward ME" not only helps you understand your financial status but also makes saving money easier.
How do we realize this? There are three main ways to save money:
For 1, there are multiple ways like skill improvement for a salary raise, switching to a better-paying job, or side hustles. However, services related to these are already provided by many other companies.
For 2, "Money Forward ME" offers comprehensive support. For those who struggle to reduce expenses, we provide a "Household Improvement Checklist" within the service. It helps users understand their household finances, set goals, and review expenses—a simple process to better manage their finances.
We also offer the "Money Forward Fixed Cost Review" series to help reduce significant fixed expenses. With the fixed cost reduction simulation feature, users can calculate potential savings on electricity, internet, mobile phone bills, and insurance premiums. Additionally, users can apply for services and products like "Money Forward Electricity" and "Money Forward Insurance Premium Review" to further reduce fixed costs. Our insurance review diagnostics have surpassed 67,000 cases, helping many users cut their fixed expenses.
Recognizing that many people still prefer to consult with professionals about their finances, we offer free financial planning consultations ("Money Forward Personal Financial Consulting") in collaboration with partner companies. These consultations cover life plan simulations, life insurance reviews, and investment advice. We have seen results where users have improved their household finances by an average of 21,000 yen per month after consultations.
For those who prefer not to meet in person, we have services that allow users to check their financial status without intermediaries. "Money Forward Okane Sensei Beta" analyzes user data and provides advice based on the household's financial situation with "overall evaluation and comments." Users can quickly understand their financial status across four categories: spending, saving, growing, and future assets.
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The "Future Asset Simulator" feature allows users to simulate their future financial situation based on "Money Forward ME" data. Knowing what funds you'll need in the future can alleviate financial anxiety. This service has received a total of 290,000 accesses since its test release, and we are grateful that many people are using it.
Looking back, I feel proud that we have been diligently working on various financial challenges for 11 years. I am reminded and also very grateful for the support we have received from our users.
What about "Growing Assets Through Investment"?
The third method of saving money, "growing assets through investment," has been a significant and challenging issue for Money Forward.
The best approach to increasing wealth varies from person to person, and the methods are diverse. Due to the many variables such as asset amount, risk tolerance, monthly income and expenses balance, age, goals, and financial knowledge, it's tough to define a one-size-fits-all solution.
Therefore, we decided to start by offering what we believe is the most basic service for growing money: the new NISA-compatible discretionary investment service "SUSTEN for Money Forward." This service has been developed together with Susten, which is a frontrunner in providing an affordable investment platform for consumers.?
The basic concept of asset management is "regular savings, diversification, global." We recommend the "Money Forward Global Equity Index Fund (formerly Global Equity Index Portfolio (M))" as an investment product that allows busy users to invest a manageable amount monthly in a wide range of advanced and emerging countries, including Japan.
To make investing affordable, we have set it up so that users of the "Money Forward ME" premium service "Asset Building Advance Course" can enjoy virtually free management fees for investments up to 600,000 yen with "SUSTEN for Money Forward."
We also offer features like "Investment Learning" to gain basic investment knowledge and "Simple Investment Diagnosis" to help users determine how much they should invest monthly based on their asset information.
While we cannot guarantee future investment performance, we hope this service will support users in taking their first step into asset management.
About Susten Capital Management
Susten Capital Management was founded in 2019 by Mr. Okano and Mr. Yamaguchi, who have a remarkable background in asset management for institutional investors at Goldman Sachs. They have a vision of creating a "sustainable society where everyone can live with peace of mind," and we were so impressed with their vision and track record that we invested in the company in 2021.
They are fully compatible with the new NISA that started in 2024 and are continuously developing and improving their unique "NISA Optimization Feature" to help users achieve their ideal asset management.
In the next <Part 2>, I would like to talk about our new challenge: establishing a joint venture with PrivateBANK and expanding a multi-family office aimed at the ultra-wealthy.