Japan aims to become a leading Asset Management Center, attracting capital and talent from home and abroad to drive new growth. Fukuoka is emerging as an early success story, strengthening its competitiveness following its designation as a Special Zone for Financial and Asset Management Businesses.

Japan’s goal of becoming a leading Asset Management Center is not simply about growing the financial industry. Its essence lies in realizing an economy and society in which capital, talent, and expertise gather from both Japan and abroad, giving rise to new innovation and growth.

Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City are concrete examples of this vision in action. Since the region was designated a Special Zone for Financial and Asset Management Businesses in 2024, it has been drawing in companies and talent from Japan and abroad, while working to enhance regional vitality and strengthen its international competitiveness at the same time.

Behind this momentum are the growing importance of geographic diversification in business operations and Fukuoka’s multifaceted appeal as a financial hub.

The city’s value as a business location became particularly evident on the afternoon of Friday, March 11, 2011, when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. Although the epicenter was several hundred kilometers away, Tokyo experienced significant tremors. While some financial institutions scaled back their operations, that was not an option for companies such as State Street Trust & Banking Co., Ltd. that provide trust and custody services. The company immediately began looking for a “hot” backup site from which it could quickly resume business operations in the event of a major disaster. It ultimately selected Fukuoka and opened an office there in May of the following year.

Located in Kyushu, approximately 800 kilometers from Tokyo, Fukuoka is particularly well suited to business continuity strategies. According to Alison Birch, State Street’s director, chief operating officer (COO), and head of the Fukuoka Office, the city is known for offering a high quality of life, culinary excellence, relatively low cost of living, and an international outlook despite its compact size. Fukuoka has a long history of flourishing as a hub for international trade and a gateway to Asia. Its strong connections to markets in Japan and abroad through its airport, seaport, and high-speed rail network were also seen as significant advantages.

The region is also home to excellent universities that attract students from around the world. According to Birch, with support from Fukuoka Prefecture, State Street has been deepening its ties with universities, helping it secure a diverse pool of talent, including international students who can work in both English and Japanese. These strengths make the region an effective base for mitigating geopolitical risk.

Birch became head of the Fukuoka Office in April 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The resulting uncertainty affected State Street’s operations in neighboring Poland, leading the bank to re-evaluate concentration risks across its global operations.

To reduce concentration risk, State Street opted to diversify its global operations and transfer part to Fukuoka. Birch oversaw the subsequent hiring of about 100 additional personnel within a year, quadrupling the number of nationalities represented in the Fukuoka Office to 28 and further diversifying its workforce.

Birch also notes that Fukuoka’s strong administrative support and favorable business environment make it well suited to business diversification. “Fukuoka is a city with significant growth potential, and I believe it is well positioned to become a ‘second capital,’” she says. “Japan has always offered compelling investment opportunities, but timing matters. Particularly now, with the Japanese government focused on expanding growth, companies should look beyond Tokyo and consider Japan as a whole. With the Special Zone for Financial and Asset Management Businesses, this is an excellent opportunity to establish a presence in Fukuoka, secure outstanding talent, and become part of this vibrant city.”

Another attraction is Fukuoka City’s more than a decade-long track record of supporting startups and fostering urban vitality. The city has built a comprehensive support system, ranging from consultations for entrepreneurs at the founding stage to assistance with raising capital for growth.

In 2015, Fukuoka became the first city in Japan to introduce a Startup Visa program to make it easier for foreign entrepreneurs to launch businesses in Japan. These pioneering initiatives have helped the city continue to attract international companies and startups.

In 2024, Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City, along with Hokkaido and Sapporo City, Tokyo, and Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, were designated as Special Zones for Financial and Asset Management Businesses. The initiative aims to stimulate the circulation of capital by encouraging domestic and overseas financial and asset management firms to establish operations in the designated regions through regulatory reforms undertaken jointly by the national government and local governments, while enabling each region to develop initiatives tailored to its own strengths.

One particularly noteworthy initiative in Fukuoka is TEAM FUKUOKA, a public-private-academic partnership that seeks to attract international financial functions to the region. Since its launch in 2020, the initiative has attracted more than 40 companies, including asset management firms from Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

“Creating a financial ecosystem cannot be achieved through a single initiative. It requires combining a diverse range of efforts. In that respect, I believe TEAM FUKUOKA is effective. Its focus on deep tech is particularly significant, including its efforts to connect universities engaged in technological innovation with fintech companies,” Birch says.

In February 2025, Fukuoka Prefecture appointed Birch as an international financial advisor. As the only woman, the only foreign national, and the only advisor who lives in the prefecture, Birch believes this allows her to bring a distinctive perspective to the role.

Japan has been advancing a range of initiatives to promote Japan as a leading Asset Management Center, with the aim of promoting economic growth and increasing income from financial assets. These efforts include corporate governance reforms, support for steady asset building by households, enhancement of asset management services, and reform of asset ownership.