Overview
Nomura Holdings Inc. is the holding company for Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Japan’s biggest brokerage by assets. Nomura is a securities and investment banking firm with worldwide operations providing trading, underwriting, offering securities, asset management and other services. It operates offices in about 30 countries and regions, including the U.S., the U.K., Singapore and Hong Kong through its subsidiaries.
The company has deep roots in the U.S., opening it first office the country in 1927. Its U.S. arm is Nomura Securities International Inc. Its four divisions are: equities, fixed income, asset management and investment banking. Nomura also owns Instinet Corp., an electronic institutional brokerage.
Nomura is in expansion mode in the U.S., where it has plans ramp up its workforce to about 2,000 employees by March 2011, more than double its predownturn size. Its equity platform in place, the focus is now on the fixed-income side. The hiring spree follows its failed attempt to buy Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s core U.S. business in 2008. Nomura wound up with Lehman's Asian and European businesses. The company has been working to integrate the operations, and cultural and business differences have arisen over executive compensation, how quickly decisions are made and treatment of women in the workplace, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Recruiting
The company expects to expand its U.S. workforce by 25% to 2,000 by March 2011. It plans to build up in stock and bond trading and research and add new areas, such as convertibles. The head of i-banking in Asia ex-Japan Glenn Schiffman was recently put in charge of the effort.
Just don't expect the pay to always measure up to that of similar-sized U.S. institutions. However, that could change. COO Takumi Shibata has been pushing to change the bank's compensation structure to lure in top talent in the U.S.
The bank recently reshuffled management ranks ahead of the expiration of retention-bonus agreements with ex-Lehmanites and an expected wave of defections.