Announcement of Subsidiary’s Release

TOKYO, Aug 16, 2021 – Japan Catalyst, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Monex Group, Inc.,
issued the following press release today.
Attachment: Japan Catalyst, Inc. press release
Announcement of Commencement of Investment Advisory for Japan Catalyst FundContact: Akiko Kato
Corporate Communications OfficeMonex Group, Inc.
+81-3-4323-8698
Yuki Nakano, Minaka Aihara
Investor Relations, Financial Control Dept.
Monex Group, Inc.
+81-3-4323-8698
This material was made as a matter of record only and does not constitute an offer to sell or to solicit an offer to buy
securities in the U.S.

Announcement of Commencement of Investment Advisory for Japan Catalyst FundTOKYO, August 16, 2021 – Japan Catalyst, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "JCI") is pleased to announce
the commencement of investment advisory activities for the Japan Catalyst Fund.
Japan Catalyst Fund is a Cayman-registered corporate-type investment fund that invests in Japaneseequities and is managed by Gordian Capital Singapore Private Limited (Head Office: Singapore,
hereinafter referred to as "Gordian Capital"). JCI has entered into an investment advisory agreement withGordian Capital, and the Japan Catalyst Fund began operations in August 2021.
JCI has been providing investment advice to the mother fund of Monex Activist Fund (nicknamed "Japan'sFuture", hereinafter referred to as "MAF") for the past one year since its launch, and the MAF has been
well received mainly by individual investors, and its investment performance has been strong (net return of+24.86%, total net assets of 8 billion yen *As of July 30, 2021).
Our corporate philosophy is "to be a catalyst for real change in Japanese companies that are facing a periodof transformation", and we believe that "啐啄同時 (Sottaku-doji)" is the ideal style of engagement. 啐(Sotsu) is the sound made by the chick trying to break the eggshell from the inside to hatch. 啄(Taku) is
the sound made by the mother bird trying to break the eggshell from the outside. 同時(Douji) means
simultaneously occurring at the same time. Hence, it implies that the chick can hatch if pecking from bothsides since the act is performed simultaneously. Pecking from the outside only does not work when thechicks are not ready, while pecking from the inside only does not assist the chicks to exit.
To support corporate management and companies from the outside when they are trying to transform iswhat we aim for in our engagement investments. In Japan, where the progress of governance reforms are
beginning to take shape, investors around the world are paying attention to the development of this type ofengagement investment and are looking forward to the transformation of Japanese companies. Theseinvestors will be able to access these opportunities via the Japan Catalyst Fund.
Through our shareholder activism, JCI will continue to work as a team to encourage corporate reform andaim to provide investment results that are positive from both a commercial and corporate governance
perspective to investors in Japan and overseas.

*Note: The Japan Catalyst Fund is not offered in Japan as of now.
This material is an English translation of a Japanese announcement made on the date above. Although the Company intended to faithfullytranslate the Japanese document into English, the accuracy and correctness of this English translation is not guaranteed and thus you areencouraged to refer to the original Japanese document.