Idle Assets as Governance Failure

“For a company, money is like blood in the human body. If the flow of blood is hindered, it adversely affects the overall health. Whether companies invest for growth or investors put money into new ventures, it is crucial that the flow of money is smooth. Despite this, many listed companies in Japan had a lot of unutilized money saved up. Utilizing these "idle assets" is a critical issue in corporate governance from a shareholder's perspective, and it became my life's work.”

“The corporate balance sheet accurately represents the trajectory of the company to date, and the capital policy it aims to achieve. It should directly reflect the mindset of the management, such as what policies they have for accumulating cash, whether they return retained earnings to shareholders, or keep them as internal reserves. However, after speaking to many executives, I realized that most companies simply continue the management policies from the past without any specific policies of their own. This included dividend policies that ensured stable annual payments and borrowing practices based on the longstanding notion of 'avoiding it as much as possible because that's what has always been said.'”