Mizuho taps on Japan's wealthy elderly to boost dismal lending

The bank aims to achieve a $2.7b asset balance in the next five years.

Bloomberg reports that the trust banking arm of Mizuho Financial Group has started selling a new trust type dedicated to manage the wealth held by Japan’s rich elderly population in an effort to offset weakening profitability. 

Almost 70% of Japan’s household financial assets is held by people over the age of 60, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimated in a report last year.

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The trust enables customers to pay themselves or their family members a regular income stream and make preparations for leaving the money as inheritance.

The bank has already sold about 750 of the trusts since they first rolled out the product in August last year, according to CEO Tetsuo Iimori, with aims of achieving an asset balance of $2.7b (JPY300b) in the next few years to transform the product into a trillion-yen business, Iimori added.

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