Nomura is seeking acquisitions in private debt asset management as it accelerates its push into alternative investments, chief executive Kentaro Okuda said in an interview with Reuters. 

The Japanese financial group is looking to expand its private debt platform by acquiring specialist firms or teams, as it targets long-term growth in fee-based asset management.

Okuda said Nomura wants to bring expertise from more mature overseas markets into Japan’s nascent direct lending sector. Demand is expected to rise as interest rates move higher after decades of ultra-low borrowing costs.

The global private debt market was estimated at about $3trn in early 2025, up from $2trn in 2020. Alternative assets have historically made up a small share of Japanese portfolios compared with overseas peers.

Nomura is targeting 10trn yen in alternative assets under management by March 2031, up from 2.9trn yen at the end of September 2025. The group would consider both bolt-on deals and outright acquisitions.

The strategy follows Nomura’s $1.8bn acquisition of Macquarie’s US and European asset management businesses earlier this year. In November, it also invested $150m in a US private credit fund through a partnership with Park Square.

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