Statement
We seek to realize a sustainable, prosperous society in which the rich natural environment is preserved, diverse human capital is utilized,
economy development is driven by technological innovation, human rights are respected, and well-being is promoted.
It is a society in which ESG issues are addressed and the SDGs are achieved.
(Excerpt from NAM’s ESG Statement)

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Responsible Investment Report 2023

High Priority ESG issues
While the importance of each ESG issue differs depending on the specific characteristics of the businessin question, we identify the following 6 issues as common ESG issues that are particularly important
across many businesses. We also partner with a variety of initiatives to work to solve each issue.

Statement
In March 2019, Nomura Asset Management
announced our “ESG Statement”. In this statement,
we expressed the future direction of our ESG
activities and how we will respond to environmental(E) and social (S) risks. Also, by sharing the detailsof our plans with stakeholders, we aim to realize asustainable and prosperous society.
Nomura Asset Management seeks to realize asustainable, prosperous society in which the richnatural environment is preserved, human capitalpossessing diverse values are utilized, economic
development is driven by technological innovation,
human rights are respected, and well-being is
promoted. It is a society in which ESG issues are
addressed and the SDGs are achieved. In addition,
we recognize that efforts to solve ESG issues inorder to realize this kind of society are important for
supporting a virtuous cycle in the investment chain.
We believe that a critical factor for both sustainablecorporate value improvement and higher investment
returns is for a company to appropriately manage
risks related to ESG issues, view solutions to ESG
issues as new business opportunities, and properly
incorporate them into management strategies.
Furthermore, as a responsible investor, we
encourage our portfolio companies to practice what
we view as desirable management, while we ourselves
will also continue to operate with a focus on ESG.

E

E

Climate Change

S

Natural Capital

S

S

Value Creation to
Realize Well-Being
Within Society

Diversity Equity
Inclusion &Belonging (DEI&B)

Human Rights

G

Corporate
governanceCore ESG Initiatives
PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) are a set of principles
formulated in April 2006 that require investors to incorporate ESG into
actual investment analysis and decision-making processes.
Principles for
Responsible
Investment PRI
Signature Timing
March 2011

PRI Japan Advisory
Committee member

Support for educating the public about and energizing PRI’s activities inJapan (became committee member in 2023)

PRI Advance Signatory
Advisory Committee
memberCollaborative engagement for human rights (started in 2022)

PRI Spring Signatory
Advisory Committee
memberCollaborative engagement for nature and bio diversity (started in 2023)

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Environment
N

Signed as Nomura Group

Climate Change

Natural Capital

The Paris Agreement, which was concluded in 2015, stipulates that efforts shall be madeto limit the increase in the global average temperature to 1.5˚C since before the Industrial
Revolution based on scientific evidence. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to reach net
zero global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We believe that companies must address
climate change issues from the perspective of both risk management and the pursuit ofbusiness opportunities in order to achieve sustainable improvement of corporate value.

Companies benefit from biodiversity through the utilization of forests, water sources,and other natural capital in their business activities. In 2021, the Taskforce on Naturerelated Financial Disclosures (“TNFD”), an international organization that builds
frameworks for appropriately assessing and disclosing risks and opportunities related
to natural capital and biodiversity, was launched. In September 2023, the TNFD issued
its final recommendations regarding the disclosure framework, and a foundation is
being formed to create a nature-positive flow of funds. In order to respond to suchchanges in the environment surrounding natural capital, we believe that companies
must exercise proper risk management in relation to activities that could negatively
impact natural capital and biodiversity, as well as pursue business opportunities that
address social issues, such as the preservation of natural capital and biodiversity.

TCFD

CDP

(Task Force on Climate - Related
Financial Disclosures)

Signature Timing: June 2015 N
Signature Timing: November 2021
Established in 2000. This is a
global project in which institutional
investors around the world
encourage companies to disclose
their strategies to combat climatechange as well as their specificgreenhouse gas emissions. Current
areas of focus include climatechange, water and forests.

Signature Timing: March 2019

Signature Timing: December 2019

A private-sector led task force
launched in December 2015 by the
Financial Stability Board (FSB) thatencourages enhanced information
disclosure related to climate change.

An investor initiative in which
institutional investors collaborate(group engagement) to encourage
the world’s largest corporate
greenhouse gas emitters to disclose
information related to climatechange and respond accordingly.

PCAF

NZAM

(Net Zero Asset Managers initiative)

Signature Timing:g: August 2021
Signature Timing: March 2022 N

Signature Timing: August 2021

Responsible Investment Report 2023

FAIRR

(Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return)(Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials)

An international initiative established in the Netherlands
in 2015 to create a standard method for measuring
and disclosing greenhouse gas emissions. The PCAF
Japan Coalition was established in November 2021, andNomura Asset Management has been a member since
its establishment.

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CA100+

A global initiative established in December 2020 comprisingasset managers which aim for net-zero emissions ofgreenhouse gases (GHGs) from portfolio companies by
2050, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

TNFD Forum

Signature Timing: June 2019

Signature Timing: July 2023

A livestock industry-related institutional investor initiative
launched in 2015 by Jeremy Coller, the founder of Coller
Capital (U.K.). The initiative educates people about
livestock industry risks, including the impact on theenvironment, as well as food safety (antibiotics) issues.

As a collection of stakeholders supporting the TNFD debate,
the TNFD Forum enables discussion of the TNFD framework
and raising awareness of the risks and opportunities
associated with natural capital and biodiversity.

SocialN

Signed as Nomura Group

Human Rights
Corporate business activities involve a large number ofpeople including employees and local residents, whichis even broader when the supply chain is considered.
Companies are expected to exercise proper risk
management to ensure that their activities do not
infringe upon human rights. We believe that companies
must exercise human rights due diligence and otherforms of proper human rights risk management in orderto achieve sustainable improvement of corporate value.

UNGC(The United Nations Global
Compact)

Signature Timing: June 2015 N

Non-binding action principles advocatedby then UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan,
at the Davos Forum in 1999. It encourages
businesses and groups worldwide to takeactions in the areas of human rights, labor, theenvironment and preventing corruption.

In order to realize sustainable improvement in corporate value, we believe that it is necessary
for companies’ human capital to be comprised of people with diverse values without regard tofactors such as gender, nationality, race or age, and for companies to create a corporate culturethat provides equal opportunities to employees and that welcomes diversity and inclusion. In
addition, we feel that it is critical for companies to foster a sense of unity under which senior
management and employees share a sense of purpose to sustainably improve corporate value.

(Investor Group)

Well-being refers to a state in which all people can seek happiness and live healthy
lives. Well-being in society is realized by solving social issues in a variety of fields.
Specific examples include health and safety, education and intelligence, and regional
revitalization. In our view, the development and provision of products and services that
contribute to addressing these social issues represent important business opportunities
for companies, and could lead to sustainable improvement of corporate value.

Access to
Medicine Index(Access to Medicine
Foundation)

Diversity Equity Inclusion &Belonging (DEI&B)

30% Club Japan

Well-Being

Access to Nutrition
Initiative

Signature Timing: July 2019

Signature Timing: May 2021

Founded in 2003 by Dutch entrepreneur Wim
Leereveld. The organization encourages thepharmaceutical industry to do more to help low- andmiddle-income countries who have limited access to
medicine. Signatories support the foundation’s index.

Founded in 2013 by Dutch businesswoman Inge
Kauer. Using proprietary analytical tools, the Initiativeevaluates the level of response by the food andbeverage industry to the two global nutritional issuesof overnutrition and undernutrition, and urges thefood and beverage industry to improve the dietary
habits of adults and children around the world.

Triple I for GH(Impact Investment Initiative
for Global Health)

Women in ETFs

Signature Timing: September 2023
Signature Timing: December 2019

Signature Timing: April 2022

A group of asset owners and asset managers that engages
in constructive dialogue with the boards of directors andsenior management of portfolio companies, with the aim ofhighlighting the importance of gender diversity within senior
management and realizing such gender diversity.

“Women in ETFs” advocates for the goal of bringing
together people from the ETF industry around the world
to actively promote equality, diversity and inclusiveness.
Its mission is to develop and sponsor human resources,
recognize women’s achievements in the ETF industry, andadvance and grow the ETF community.

The aim of this initiative is to promote the flow of public
and private funds towards the field of global health andcontribute to achieving universal health coverage* andthe SDGs, primarily in developing countries. An additional
goal is to contribute to solving international social issues
by sharing impact reporting and good practices in the
global health field.
©Triple I for Global Health* A state in which all people can receive
appropriate health care services such as
prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, at anaffordable cost.

14GovernanceN

Signed as Nomura Group

Other ESG Related Initiatives

Corporate governanceCorporate governance is a structure for transparent, fair, timely and decisive decisionmaking by companies. From this perspective, the board of directors is responsible for thesupervision of management, while nominations, compensation, and audits are the means
to ensure the board fulfills its role. We believe that companies must strengthen corporate
governance so that their management can properly manage various risks including the ESG
issues mentioned above, while pursuing business opportunities to achieve sustainableimprovement of corporate value.

ICGN

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ACGA

JSI

(The International Corporate
Governance Network)(The Asian Corporate Governance
Association)(Japan Stewardship Initiative)

Signature Timing: December 2018

Signature Timing: December 2018

Signature Timing: November 2019

Established in 1995 to promote
effective corporate governancestandards and foster responsible
investment to advance efficient
markets and sustainableeconomies worldwide.

Established in 1999 to engage in
research and provide corporate
support and education related tocorporate governance in order topromote corporate governancein Asia.

Aims to identify practical issues
between asset owners and asset
managers and to support efficienttransmission of information aimed
at advancing and deepening
stewardship activities.

Responsible Investment Report 2023

GRESB

Principles for Financial
Action for the 21stCentury

Signature Timing: March 2021

Signature Timing: January 2012

Measures the environmental, social, andgovernance (ESG) of individual companies
and investment funds in the real estate
sector. GRESB was launched in 2009,
mainly by European pension funds, as asource of information to use when selecting
investments and during dialogue withportfolio companies and investment funds.

Formulated in October 2011 basedon a proposal by the Ministry of theEnvironment’s Central Environmental
Council as action guidelines for financial
institutions that wish to fulfill their
responsibilities and roles as required forthe formation of a sustainable society.

GRESB® and the related logo aretrademarks owned by GRESB BV and areused with permission

Environment
Programme –FinanceInitiative UNEP FI

ICMA Principles
Membership

Signature Timing: January 2019 N

Signature Timing: June 2023

UNEP FI is a partnership establishedbetween the United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP) and financial institutions
worldwide.
Since its establishment in 1992, UNEP
FI has been cooperating with financial
institutions and regulatory authorities topromote a shift to a financial system that
integrates economic development with
ESG considerations.

An international initiative that establishes
standards, including the Green Bond
Principles, the Social Bond Principles, andthe Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles.
The initiative aims to promote the healthy
development of the global bond market by
ensuring market transparency and throughinformation disclosure and reporting.

Our Activities
Stewardship Activities

Investment Decisions

Through our activities, including proxy voting andconstructive dialogue (engagement), we encourage
the management of portfolio companies tomanage risks and pursue business opportunities
that are associated with ESG issues and also todisclose information in accordance with relevant
global initiatives.

We assess our portfolio companies’ initiatives toaddress ESG issues based on our own standards
from the perspectives of both risks and opportunities
and incorporate the results in our investment
decisions. If we assess a company’s initiatives as
insufficient, or if we determine that the issues cannot
be solved through engagement, it may result indivestment or exclusion from our investment universe.

Our Business Activities

Business Opportunities

We recognize that business activities that take into
account social value creation are important elements
for realizing a sustainable and prosperous society.
We strive to contribute to asset formation by offering
investment products and services that help toaddress ESG issues and through efforts to expand
the investment base through measures such as
financial education. (For details, please refer to Pages
9-12 of our Sustainability report 2023.)

We place particular focus on the realization ofwell-being within society when viewing business
opportunities associated with ESG issues. We
encourage portfolio companies to properly
incorporate the realization of well-being withinsociety into their management strategies and toquantify outcomes and disclose them along withthe relevant targets.

Monitoring

Initiatives

We conduct monitoring based on global initiatives,
including the Task Force on Climate-related
Financial Disclosures (TCFD), in order to ascertain
the status of ESG issues in our investment
portfolio. Specifically, we monitor greenhouse gas
emissions and other factors.

We participate in international initiatives andactively embrace accepted standards and norms.
Through these initiatives, we conduct engagement
jointly with other institutional investors and share
best practices by actively cooperating with a wide
range of stakeholders.

Reference

Governance andDisclosure to
Promote ESG
At Nomura Asset Management,
important decisions on management
execution including this Statement
are made by the Executive
Management Committee, which
consists of senior executives, towhom the proper authority has
been delegated by the board of
directors. We have established theInvestment Policy Committee and the
Responsible Investment Committee
as the highest decision-making
bodies in investment decisions andresponsible investment to address
ESG issues within a proactive
framework. We have also established
the Conflict of Interest Management
Policy as well as a Responsible
Investment Council and a FundBusiness Operation Council, whichhave oversight for our responsible
investment activities and products
to ensure their appropriatenessand validity. In addition, in order toproperly fulfill our accountability,
we will actively work on information
disclosure regarding the abovementioned “our activities”.

https://www.nomura-am.co.jp/special/sustainability/pdf/sustainability_report2023_e.pdf

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NAM’s initiatives on PRIThe PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) is a set of investment principles
proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2006 and designed to reflect
environmental, social and governance (ESG) in investment analysis and thedecision-making processes. NAM and other institutional investors have the duty to
act in the best long-term interest of beneficiaries. Believing that advancing initiatives
in line with the investment principles espoused in the PRI is important in terms offulfilling our fiduciary duty, NAM signed PRI in March 2011 and is strengthening
its activities related to responsible investment. We also participate in PRI’s annual
evaluation, which helps us to improve our responsible investment activities. As of
December 31, 2023, there are 5,372 signatories globally.
NAM has been proactively contributing to PRI’s activities. In 2023, NAM wasappointed as a member of the PRI Japan Advisory Committee, as well as “Spring”,
which is PRI’s stewardship initiative for nature. In Advance, the PRI’s collaborative
initiative on human rights and social issues which has been active since 2022, NAM
is leading engagement with specific companies as a lead investor.

Results of the 2023 PRI Assessment
NAM received the highest rating of “Five Stars” in six Modules in the 2023 PRI
Assessment. This assessment involved NAM’s initiatives in 2022 spanning a total of
10 modules.
The PRI secretariat assesses the implementation status of responsible investment
on a five-star scale for each module based on reports that PRI signatories submit.
The scores for 8 modules out of 10 modules greatly exceeded the respective medianvalues. Among them, NAM received the highest rating of “Five Stars” in Policy
Governance and Strategy, three modules for Direct Listed Equity, and two modules
for Direct Fixed Income.

2023 PRI Assessment results

PRI AdvanceNAM became a member of the Advisory
Committee for “Advance” and “Spring”, the
PRI’s collaborative initiatives, and we havetaken a leading role in both building thecollaborative engagement framework and incarrying out dialogue with companies.

Collaborative initiative for human rights and social
issues Started in 2022

PRI Spring

Collaborative initiative for natural capital andbiodiversity Started in 2023

PRI SSIMRG Member

PRI’s new initiative for investment managers
Started in 2023

PRI Nature Reference Group
MemberStar score

59

100

65

<10%

Active fundamental

100

71

<10%

Passive

100

42

SSA

95

59

Corporate

97

68

<10%

Hedge funds

Long/short credit

0

40

<10%

Listed equity

Active

82

57

<10%

Fixed income

Active

88

57

<10%

60

80

Listed equity

DirectDiscuss issues related to responsible
investment and sustainable financial systems.

Support signatory awareness of natural
capital and building investor capacity toaddress biodiversity loss and other naturerelated risks.

AUM
coverage98

Main activities related to PRISupport for PRI promotion activities in Japan(Appointed in 2023).

ModulemedianActive quantitative

Policy Governance and Strategy

PRI Japan Advisory Committee
MemberModulescore

Fixed income>=10 and<=50%>=10 and<=50%

IndirectConfidence building measures*In the PRI Assessment Report, Nomura Asset Management was assessed on a total of 10 modules. Pleaserefer to the reports listed below for more information on all assessments, including indirect modules.

Reference materials

Reference

PRI Assessment Report 2023
https://www.nomura-am.co.jp/news/Assessment_Report_2023.pdf

PRI Public Transparency Report 2023
https://www.nomura-am.co.jp/news/Public_Transparency_Report_2023.pdf

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Responsible Investment Report 2023

NAM and PRI Jointly Hosted Side Event at PRI in Person 2023
NAM became a member of the PRI Japan Advisory Committee in May 2023. Together
with members of other companies, we have worked to expand the number of signatoryorganizations and raise awareness of PRI in Japan. There was a demand for dialogue
with companies at PRI in Person 2023, which was held for the first time in Japan. NAM
collaborated with the PRI to hold an official side event, titled “Investor-Company Forum”.
The side event took place on October 3, 2023. The first session of the forum, wasmoderated by Yuichi Murao, Senior Corporate Managing Director, Chief Investment
Officer at NAM. The session involved discussion of issues related to communication gaps
between companies and investors, while introducing trends related to the disclosureof non-financial information. Three panelists from leading Japanese companies - Ricoh
Company, Ltd., Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corporation, took the stage todiscuss sustainability initiatives and information disclosure, focusing on climate change,
biodiversity and human rights issues.
In the second part of the session, a total of eight companies – including Nomura
Holdings, Inc. – engaged in direct dialogue with investors. The companies responded
earnestly to numerous questions such as “How did you decide the various KPIs towhich executive compensation is linked?” “Do you have any plans in relation to avoided
GHG emissions?”
Foreign investors were impressed with the candor of some of the Japanese companies
when explaining the sustainability challenges they faced and how they were addressing
them, and commented that it was a good chance to hear directly from the participatingcompanies. We received positive feedback both from investors and companies. “I ampleased that NAM has been able to provide a forum to connect overseas investors withJapanese companies in collaboration with PRI, at the world’s largest ESG conference,”commented Yuichi Murao, CIO, NAM.

Participated in panel discussions about natural capital and humanrights at PRI in Person 2023
We participated in panel discussions on natural capital and human rights at PRI in Person 2023
held in Tokyo, and took part in lively discussions with other investors.
At the panel on natural capital stewardship, the discussion centered on where the added
value exists in joining multiple nature-related initiatives, amid the growing debate about
appropriate assessments and disclosure of risks and opportunities related to natural capital,
as well as system design. We pointed out that the greatest added value lies in being “mutuallycomplementary.” Natural capital is a relatively new topic in the investment community.
Therefore, we told the audience that joining multiple initiatives enables us form networks andshare knowledge with a wide range of professionals.
During the panel discussion on human rights issues in the value chain, the participants
talked about how investors should carry out human rights due diligence as regulations
regarding forced labor and human rights due diligence become stricter, and also discussed
case studies. In Japan, further improvements are expected based on conducting on-site
inspections of business partners and disclosing human rights due diligence. While introducing
NAM’s human rights risk monitoring process and positive examples of engagement, wepointed out the importance of raising the overall standard of human rights risk management
and collaborative engagement.

Left: Wakaba Kawai, Senior ESG Specialist at NAM, attending a panel discussion about human rights.
Right, left in the picture: Dai Yamawaki, ESG investment manager at NAM, attending a panel
discussion about natural capital.

Right: Yuichi Murao, CIO at NAM, moderating the first session of the side event.

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