TOKYO – January 18, 2018 – LINE Corporation ("LINE") and FOLIO Co., Ltd. ("FOLIO") have entered into a capital alliance to provide the "FOLIO" next-generation investment service within the LINE messaging app.

 

Under its mission of "investment management, without barriers," FOLIO has developed a service that anyone can use to easily start managing their own investments and have fun as they do it. In November 2017, a beta-version of the service was publicly released. Among independent securities companies that handle Japanese stocks, FOLIO's future seems particularly bright. Not only is it the first online securities company to launch in nearly 10 years, but it is the first service in Japan to allow investing based on common themes.

 

LINE is advancing its strategy to use the LINE messaging app as a "Smart Portal," through which users can seamlessly connect with people, information, services, companies, and brands, online or offline, from anywhere and at anytime, 24/7, without leaving the app. LINE has been actively launching a variety of initiatives and services for its two pillars: A content platform, with news, manga, games, and others, and a life platform focused on payment, shopping, recruitment, and other services.

 

Through this capital alliance, LINE will make an investment in FOLIO and, going forward, the companies will work together to implement the FOLIO service on the LINE platform – which boasts over 71 million monthly active users in Japan – and make preparations to create a world that brings people even closer to investing, and enjoy themselves while doing it.

 

 

Comment from Takeshi Idezawa (Representative Director, President, Chief Executive Officer of LINE Corporation):

I am overjoyed at the opportunity to provide the FOLIO service on the LINE platform, which is made possible by this alliance with FOLIO. With FOLIO's never-before-seen style of investing based on common themes, together with its highly-refined UI, the service makes investing even more accessible to users. Not only is this beneficial for experienced investors, but also serves as an investment opportunity for novice investors who are interested but haven't gotten started, as well as those who are unfamiliar with the idea of investing. Further, we believe that online securities will play a vital role in LINE's smart portal strategy going forward. We will be working together to strive to make users' lives even more convenient and fulfilling through this service.

 

Comment from Shinichiro Kai (Representative Director and Chief Executive Officer of FOLIO Co., Ltd.):

We couldn't hope for a better partner for this collaboration than LINE – the company behind the "LINE" messaging app, which has a massive user-base, and is constantly releasing cutting-edge and revolutionary services. Once the "anyone can use it" FOLIO asset-management platform is released on the "used by everyone" LINE messaging app, we fully expect that the transition from "simple savings" to "personal finance" will begin in earnest. To those ends, we will be working closely together in this business collaboration and joint development. I hope to bring about a revolution in the financial sector in order to make everyone's lives and time all the more fulfilling.

 

About the next-generation investment service FOLIO

FOLIO is a next-generation investment service, operated by the company of the same name, that allows users to make diversified investments based on common themes, starting at around JPY 100,000. By simply choosing a theme such as "drones" or "trendy among women," investors can easily invest in multiple companies. Each theme is made up of 10 promising companies selected by FOLIO. By making diversified investments, investors can relatively minimize their risk of fluctuations in stock prices and feel more secure as they have fun managing their investments.

 

Company Overviews

LINE Corporation

Location of Head Office: JR Shinjuku Miraina Tower 23F, 4-1-6 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Business: Provision and operation of the LINE messaging app and content and services made available on the LINE platform, in addition to other web service businesses and AI businesses

Representative: Takeshi Idezawa, Representative Director, President, Chief Executive Officer

Established: September 4, 2000 (Changed trade name from NHN Japan Corporation to LINE Corporation on April 1, 2013)

Number of Employees: 1,716 (As of October 31, 2017)

Capital: JPY 82.372 billion (As of September 30, 2017)

 

FOLIO Co., Ltd.

Location of Head Office: Kyodo Building Ichibancho 4F, 16-1, Ichibancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Business: Type I financial instruments business, investment management business

Representative: Shinichiro Kai, Representative Director and Chief Executive Officer

Established: December 10, 2015

Number of Employees: 54 (As of January 18, 2018)

Capital: JPY 2,120,283,436 (As of July 2017; including capital reserves)

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