Apollo Global Management LLC APO seeks to accelerate its expansion in Japan and hire ten new employees for its Asia wealth business, per a Reuters report.

Apollo’s Private Wealth business, launched in 2022, raised close to $5 billion from wealthy investors in Asia and will be one of APO’s regional growth engines in Japan, where it plans to double staffing over the next two years. The company is targeting to raise at least $150 billion for its global wealth business by 2029.

Rationale Behind APO’s Expansion in Japan

Apollo plans to drive more resources into Japan to capitalize on rising deals and assets.

The company is eyeing Japan's thriving private equity market for expansion. With the Tokyo branch poised to be the fastest-growing in its Asia portfolio, the firm plans to increase its local team to about 30 from the current 20-25 staffers.

According to data from consulting firm Bain & Co., Japan was the biggest market for private equity agreements in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023, accounting for 30% of the total deal value, up from 7% over the previous five-year average. In 2023, Japan recorded a 23% year-over-year increase, delivering roughly $123 billion of deal value.

A push for improved corporate governance and a weaker yen, which make assets more affordable, have helped make Japan a rare bright spot. The growth of Japan coincides with a boom in dealmaking over the past two years.

Apollo’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank

Over the past six months, APO shares have gained 36.8% compared with the industry’s rise of 26.5%.

Currently, Apollo carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-Ranked Finance Stocks

A couple of better-ranked stocks from the asset management space are Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. VCTR and KKR & Co. KKR.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VCTR’s current-year earnings has been unchanged at $5.29 per share over the past seven days. Its shares have gained 33.9% in the past six months. Currently, Victory Capital sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

KKR carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. Its earnings estimates for 2024 have been unchanged at $4.71 per share over the past seven days. In the past six months, KKR shares have rallied 35.8%.

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KKR & Co. Inc. (KKR) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Apollo Global Management Inc. (APO) : Free Stock Analysis Report