Nomura Hires Virtual Influencer to Coax Japan’s Young Investors

Japan’s biggest brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc. has hired a computer-generated influencer to advertise tax-free investing accounts as it tries to attract a younger generation of retail clients.

Imma, a virtual influencer with a pink-colored bob and nearly a million total followers on Instagram and TikTok, has recently begun appearing in Nomura’s advertisements for tax-free accounts that are part of the Nippon Individual Savings Accounts system. Japan’s government and brokerage industry have for years been trying to promote NISA, the country’s equivalent of the UK ISA plan, as a way to get people to invest in riskier assets rather than hoarding them in savings. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expanding the program from January 2024, and Nomura is launching new tax-exempt products in time for this.