Stakeholder Communication
Communication with Customers
Customer Survey
Aozora conducts a customer satisfaction survey every year for corporate and individual customers. Based on the results of the survey, in order to respond to diverse needs and increase customer satisfaction, Aozora will continue to take customer feedback seriously and use it to improve its services, such as by setting evaluation indicators with an awareness of improving the quality of proposals and raising the quality of its employees through training.
In accordance with Aozora’s “Basic Policy on Customer-Oriented Business Management,” Aozora is committed to providing specialized financial services that take into consideration not only asset management needs but also wealth transfer needs and business succession needs while maintaining a customer-oriented business attitude in pursuit of the best interests of our customers.
Reception for Regional Financial Institutions
We host receptions where we invite our regional financial institution customers. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held in person in FY2022 for the first time in three years. On the day of the event, a string quartet featuring members of the Sophia Philharmonic Orchestra gave a live performance, and their elegant melodies made for a harmonious moment from start to finish.
Customer Seminars
Every year, the Aozora Group holds a series of seminars which are of relevance and interest to our customers. In November 2022, we held a seminar for regional financial institution customers on the topic of business recovery in the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We made presentations on methods of determining revitalization according to the stage of the business, and also offered individual consultations to customers who were in attendance.
Communication with Shareholders
General Meeting of Shareholders
The 90th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders was held on June 22, 2023. As with the last fiscal year, Aozora offered a livestream of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders alongside the in-person event, which allowed for the participation of shareholders who resided in remote areas or did not wish to attend in person. Of the total participants, 63 shareholders attended the event in person and approximately 200 attended via livestream. At the venue, newly appointed Director Hideyuki Takahashi, Director Hideaki Saito, Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer Masayoshi Ohara and Audit & Supervisory Board Member Junichi Maeda gave a brief speech to the shareholders. We will continue to periodically revise conventional methods of hosting the event as we aim for an open general meeting of shareholders in a new era.
We also post a shareholders newsletter “Aozora Tsushin” twice per year on our website.
Investors Meetings
Aozora strives for the timely and appropriate disclosure of information to enable all shareholders and investors to acquire deeper understanding of the Group’s management strategy and financial results. As part of IR activities, following the release of our financial results, we actively conduct a series of investor relations events, such as investors meetings, one-on-one meetings and retail investors meetings, both in person and online. The number of one-on-one meetings with domestic and overseas institutional investors and analysts held increased from FY2021.
IR Events Conducted in FY2022
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Teleconferences and presentation meetings with institutional investors and analysts |
Number of meetings held: 6 |
|---|---|
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One-on-one meetings with domestic/overseas institutional investors and analysts |
Total number of participating companies: 141 |
|
Retail investors meetings |
Number of meetings held: 5 |
Communication with Employees
Town Hall Meeting
In November 2022, Aozora Town Hall Meeting was held for the first time in three years via a hybrid format in three venues—Nihonbashi, Toyosu, and Toshimaen—and remotely through Zoom. Being the first event in three years, three themes, “Aozora Today,” “Our Goals,” and “Reviewing the Three-year Period between 2020 and 2022,” were addressed, and video messages were streamed from overseas offices.
Internal Small-sized Meetings
Aozora holds internal small-sized meetings as a way to foster better communication between employees and management by leveraging our manageable size. The Bank periodically holds internal small-sized meetings which are designed to facilitate communication among small groups. In FY2022, in addition to a meeting conducted by non-Japanese employees on the topic of “Career Motivation in the Aozora Group,” executive officers visited each branch office nationwide and engaged in active discussions about issues such as the roles that will be required at each branch office in the future.
Examples of Other Initiatives
Employee Survey
Since FY2017, we have conducted a participatory survey in order to improve the working environment for all Aozora Group employees. In the survey conducted in November 2022, we received responses from 1,915 employees (a response rate of 85%).
Message from Management
We periodically communicate messages from top management to Group executives and employees. In FY2022, a total of 50 messages were shared.
Aozora Photo News
Various Group events (e.g., the status of holding customer seminars, donations to various organizations, TV appearances by employees) are made available on the Group’s portal site. Approximately 157 articles are shared a year, making the site a useful tool for promoting active communication.
One Day at Aozora
We distribute articles on our daily business activities to provide employees with an opportunity to better understand the work executives and employees conduct and what kind of thoughts they have about their work, which leads to more active communication and collaboration between divisions.
Aozora Pen Relay
In FY2022, we launched a “pen relay program” in which executives and employees write self-introductions on any theme, such as job description, work experience, hobbies and interests, and share them on the Aozora Group’s portal site and ask their managers, staff, and colleagues who have helped them to write the next self-introduction.
