30% CLUB JAPAN INVESTOR GROUP INTERVIEW SERIE S VOL.6
Interview with Ms. Anna Dingley ： On Boardroom Diversity
Neuberger Berman Can you please tell mea little bit about your background?
Dingley I grew up in Luxembourg andattended an international school there.
Everybody was speaking in English andFrench. In the 80s, 90s I heard about Japanand had "akogaree" (I was intrigued byeverything I heard) but I didn’t know any
Japanese people and didn’t have any
personal links with the country. I was lookingfor a modern and relevant degree and founda dual major in Japanese and Business at
the University of Sheffield in the UK. It was apractical course, so we studied things likereading Japanese newspapers. Although I
still have to study the language these days.
I applied to JET program because that was
the most guaranteed way to get to Japanand it was a good opportunity to live outside
the cities.

promoting trade with Japan, Jefferies theinvestment bank on their Japanese business,and the recruitment firm Robert Walters to
support people looking for Japan-UK jobs.
It so happened that Nihon M&A Center wasbringing top performing consultants to UK inearly 2020 and at that stage Nihon M&A
Center was growing Tokyo Pro Marketbusiness. A business associate was helping
arrange their schedule in the UK, and knew
I’d been involved in the start of Tokyo ProMarket. I was invited to present to Nihon
M&A Center in Japanese about the market,and couple of weeks later I received a callfrom Nihon M&A Center asking if I’d consider
becoming a Non Executive Director.
Neuberger Berman Were you surprised?

Dingley I was delighted and honored, andyes surprised too. As somebody aware ofwhat is happening in UK and Japan, I knewI joined Bloomberg managing their Japanese
about pressure to diversify boards andclients in London. One day at Bloomberg I
include foreigners and women, but I neversaw the news coming on screen that thethought it would happen
London Stock Exchangequite quickly. I thought it(LSE) announced a“I think there is a very
would be a great
Memorandum
oftalented pool of potential
opportunity.
IwasUnderstanding (MOU)
previouslyaboardwith the Tokyo Stockfemale directors in Japan,
member of the Japan
Exchange (TSE) andand companies have to beSociety in the UK. I had
wanted to attract morecreative in how to findheard about Nihon M&AJapanese companies toCenter
beforeandlist in London. I thoughtthem.”
researcheditwhilethat’s what I should bepreparing
mydoing! I talked to various
presentation to them. Their business reallypeople and managed to find the person inresonated with me. Having lived incharge and gave them a presentation. I
Kagoshima, Kyoto, and Nagoya, as well asended up joining the LSE and became
Tokyo, I could understand the issues theyBusiness Development Director for the joint
are resolving for companies regarding
venture with TSE to set up Tokyo AIM (whichsuccession planning via M&A.
is now Tokyo Pro Market). That was when I
learned about the regulations and theNeuberger Berman You joined Nihon M&A
corporate governance and setting up an
Center’s board last June amid the COVID19equity market. [Several years later,] I met
pandemic. What has been the experience
the head of equities at JP Morgan who waslike so far?
keen to boost their corporate accessbusiness and wanted to offer different type
Dingley It’s been surreal. Nobody imaginedof services. I didn’t know much about that
COVID19 would happen. Initially ourrole within a bank and started as a VP in JPM
discussions revolved around coming toand worked up to be an Executive Director
Japan regularly to fulfil my duties. I thought I
in charge of corporate access and investor
would be in Japan at least 4 times a year.
relations services. We were voted well in
Nobody could have imagined this. But it’sbroker voting and I really enjoyed the role. Ibeen a condensed way of how a company
spent a lot of time pitching to [Japanese]operates. There are different types ofCEOs and took them around the world toexternal stress and you see how people
meet shareholders or new investors. Then I
manage. On the practical level, my actual
would work with all of the investors coming
experience has been sitting in my home
to Tokyo to introduce new investment ideas.
office room at 1AM and making sure I’mawake in the middle of the night toI started my company Japan Connect whenparticipate in the meetings. There has also
I came back. I initially had three contracts. I
been considerable preparation during day
worked with the British Government
light hours! One beneficial consequence isAnna Dingley
External Director, Nihon M&A Center
Anna’s career with Japan spansover 25 years, with experience in awide range of sectors from finance,technology, and government. She
was appointed as an Outside
Director to M&A consulting firm
Nihon M&A Center in 2020 and
was previously on the Board of theJapan Society, UK. Fluent inJapanese she has lived in
Kagoshima ken, Kyoto, Nagoyaand Tokyo. She worked as an
Executive Director in Equities atJ.P.Morgan Tokyo, BusinessDevelopment Director of Tokyo
AIM, a joint venture between theLondon and Tokyo stock
exchanges which subsequently
became Tokyo Pro Market, andmore recently as International
Business Director for an American
Artificial Intelligence start-up,SparkCognition. She now lives
near London with her husband andyoung son and is looking forward
to travelling to Japan as soon as
the pandemic allows!

that it has ensured I am completely external
and able to give a global view without anypressure to conform which could sometimes
happen in person. It enabled me to see how
the company responds to huge externalforces. It’s been very impressive.
One impact of COVID19 is that it’scompounding the big social issues faced bycompanies; the need to digitalize, dealing
with the aging population etc. Nihon M&A
Center rapidly set up satellite offices and had
people on the ground and helping to provide
M&A solutions. We’ve had numerous
successful webinars and embraced that way
to communicate with clients. I can dial in tolisten from here too. A lot of our investors areinternational and many of them are in
London, so I have been able to hear theirviews and exchange feedback with the IRteam.

Of course, I am desperate to get out to Japanand work with the team in person. Thecompany kicked off the year with “kenshukai”(company-wide seminar) with fantasticspeakers and incredible discussions hosted
by the senior leadership and future leadersof Nihon M&A Center. I would love to havebeen there in person. Our company iscelebrating 30 years this year, and I’mhoping to join those celebrations.
Neuberger Berman
You’re a foreign
national and a female director at a company
that is in a relatively male dominated industry
and whose earnings are generated mainly
within the country. How do you see yourvalue-add to the board and its discussions?
Dingley It is a male industry and thecompany is majority men. My value add is afew things. First, there is international
perspective. Being able to share the view ofwhat a foreign company would do and theview of international business affairs,
particularly around environment, social,governance (ESG) issues for example. I
think my experience working at JPMorgan
and with other multinationals has also
helped, particularly around topics of diversityand inclusion. Also, I can be on the listeningside for men and women working at Nihon
M&A Center if they want to share then they
can reach out to me. We have some talented
women in the Tokyo Pro Market team andinvestor relations team who are very
impressive. Being able to hear their views
and be a sounding board is important.

Neuberger Berman You joined Nihon M&ACenter‘s board at the same time as
Takeuchi-san, another female director.
Unlike some Japanese companies thatappoint 1 female director to check the box,
we felt this was a very progressive move.
Have you found that having another female
presence in the board has helped to further
diversify the viewpoints in discussions?
Dingley Really good question. We didn’tknow each other before but it has definitely
helped. It has been a strong benefit and wehave managed to meet over zoom a numberof times. Takeuchi-san is part of CG Net,
which I joined on her recommendation and ison the board of Shiga Bank. I also joined theWomen Corporate Directors association,and Women in Banking and Financebecause it’s useful to hear more views andexperience. Takeuchi-san is an HR expert.
Around our February board meeting, I
started seeing news on LinkedIn about
International Women’s Day and I wasn’t sure
we were planning anything. Takeuchi-sanand I discussed it with our HR initiatives
director and we planned an event to markthe day. For me it was a really gooddemonstration of how quickly Nihon M&A
Center responds to suggestions. I've only
been on the board for less than a year and I
am learning all the time and how well thecompany can answer detailed questions andtake action if necessary. We planned awhole-company
onlineeventforInternational Women Day. It was called "AskAnna and Minako" and we kept it informal
like a fireside chat format. People sent inquestions in advance, and we discussed

how we would deal with those challenging
issues.
Neuberger Berman Nihon M&A Center isa growing company and one of thechallenges with growing companies in Japanis that they find it difficult to access external
director candidates and especially female
directors. Do you have any advice for suchcompanies?
Dingley The English phrase “killing twobirds with one stone” is in Japanesetoo, ”isseki nicho” and is relevant here asNihon M&A Center appointed a foreigner
and women in one person. It’s also essential
to the role that I can work in Japanese. I
think there is a very talented pool of potential
female directors in Japan, and companies
have to be creative in how to find themlooking in different industries, or networking
at events, or using LinkedIn. Companies
can follow what leaders in this field, such as
Kathy Matsui, are doing and advising. Thereis pressure for all companies around theworld to engage in diversity and inclusion at
all levels of management and boards.
However, it’s important to remember thecompanies need to also find someone thatfits well with the firm.
Neuberger Berman Any last messages?
Dingley I would love to hear from other
30% club members about best practices thatyou have heard. And especially the practicalside rather than the theory. It’s particularly
helpful to learn from case studies and reallife experiences.

This interview was conducted on March 18, 2021.
This publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of Neuberger Berman.

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