Monex Group’s corporate philosophy is: “With state-of-the-art Information Technology, globally universal values and a sense of professionalism, Monex Group designs innovative ways of managing money and realizing individual self-fulfillment for an ever-changing future. Our ultimate goal is to optimize each person’s lifetime balance sheet.”Behind this lies our aspiration to support people not only in growing their assets to achieve self-fulfillment, but also in developing the power to design their own way of living, positively and healthily, and thereby expanding what is possible in their lives.
We believe that innovation is essential to realizing this corporate philosophy.To date, we have created numerous Japan-firsts along with services and products not previously available in the market.
Even today, a growing number of like-minded people who share our corporate philosophy continue to inspire one another, and the innovation born from this is the driving force behind our growth.
Innovation at the Group reflects four key elements: foresight, risk-taking, value enhancement, and corporate culture. We will continue using this approach to forge growth in an ever-changing future.
Key Elements of Innovation at Monex Group
As evident in the acquisitions of Coincheck and TradeStation, the Group's business investments start with the defining of a forward-looking vision. In 1999, at the dawn of the Internet, Monex was established as an online brokerage company with the foresight that financial services would become available online. Our vision was to constantly innovate in anticipation of changes in society and technology.
In 2011, for example, we formulated our Global Vision amid the rise of smartphones and other developments that made online transactions an indispensable part of doing business, and as the world grew increasingly borderless. In 2017, with blockchain technology increasingly being put to practical use, we announced that we would embark on our New Beginning with the belief that blockchain and crypto assets would radically transform the capital markets. The digital transformation that unfolded during the COVID-19 pandemic then made lifestyles more diverse. In response, we updated our corporate philosophy in 2021 to include “realizing individual self-fulfillment and optimizing each person's lifetime balance sheet.”
In December 2024, Coincheck Group N.V., the intermediary holding company of Coincheck, Inc., was listed on the Nasdaq Global Market. The advancement of blockchain and AI are poised to significantly change the framework of finance and the way people live. The direction of our next growth strategies lies in going beyond the confines of traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi), connecting our brand and culture, and delivering new value by integrating technologies such as AI.
In August 2026, we also established the Monex Laboratory for On-chain Finance* to bridge online and on-chain finance. The Laboratory is dedicated to researching global standards for on-chain finance and promoting its real-world implementation.
Such updates to our forward-looking vision have been produced through an inductive approach in which we analyze and discuss what type of company we want to be based on a detailed understanding of global finance and all other circumstances, and we believe this will remain a highly replicable approach going forward.
Executing a forward-looking vision requires the ability to take bold risks with an appropriate level of risk control. Our Group has been able to achieve dramatic growth through active risk taking and appropriate risk control of initiatives that bear fruit in the future.
For example, with the acquisition of TradeStation under our Global Vision and the acquisition of Coincheck under our New Beginning, these two companies have become pillars of our business. Our past M&A transactions and expansions into new business areas reflect a history of bold risk-taking balanced by appropriate risk control, both necessary for business growth.
In addition, when considering M&A transactions, the decision on whether to take on the risk must almost always be made within a limited window of time. When Coincheck joined our Group in 2018, we were able to make this urgent and significant decision in a very short period of time as we had already been considering entering the crypto asset business when we announced our New Beginning in 2017. With this acquisition, we were taking a bold risk, but we also considered how we could control that risk, and as a result, we included an earn-out clause in the share transfer agreement with the existing shareholders. With the future of the crypto asset industry being uncertain, we felt that an earn-out clause was the best risk control measure we could take to ensure that the acquisition price of Coincheck’s shares would be at fair value.
After formulating a vision and taking appropriate risks, we need to reap the benefits by increasing value. The Group’s senior management team works closely with leadership at each of the Group companies to create an effective management structure. By strengthening its management structure and rebuilding its brand, TradeStation Group significantly increased its assets in custody and total operating revenue, and has now grown into a pillar of the Group’s business. In addition, Coincheck succeeded in doubling its number of accounts and assets in custody within a short period after joining the Group, while also achieving rapid growth in business performance. Both TradeStation and Coincheck have contributed to increasing the Group’s corporate value.
Increasing value means more than generating short-term profit. It also means building a business foundation centered on the long-term enhancement of corporate value. The companies that have joined the Group through M&A and other means are all indispensable for realizing our corporate philosophy. To ensure that their strengths remain intact, we continue to respect the unique qualities and corporate cultures of each of these companies. For example, the business of U.S.-based TradeStation differs in character from that of Monex, Inc., in Japan. It serves an active trader base and provides a distinctive trading platform that appeals to that market segment. That is why, ever since joining the Group, TradeStation has been managed by its U.S. executives, who have increased its value by realizing the vision they set for themselves. With Coincheck, the Group entered the crypto asset trading business as a new area of operations. Coincheck has built a younger customer base compared with the financial instruments trading business, and this has led to enhancements in its value.
Under this long-term approach to increasing value and post-merger integration, it takes time to generate profits and realize our vision. But we believe that allowing each Group company to operate independently empowers them to generate profit and create corporate value, and this is how we build a diversified business portfolio resilient to changes in the operating environment.
With its proprietary technologies, the Group has expanded its businesses globally in areas under regulatory control, namely as a financial instruments firm and a crypto asset exchange with customer assets in custody, and in new growth areas, such as the Internet and blockchain.
We view AI not merely as a tool for improving operational efficiency, but as a new interface connecting customers with financial services, and are working to implement AI across the Group’s services. In January 2026, our subsidiary TradeStation Securities, Inc. released its Model Context Protocol (MCP) connection, allowing users to connect their trading accounts with third-party AI platforms,*1 thereby providing customers with more intuitive, conversational trading experiences.
On August 19, 2026, Monex, Inc. launched the “MONEX MCP Server” with ChatGPT Plugin support, a first among major securities firms.*2 The Group positions the delivery of next-generation financial experiences through technology at the core of its growth strategy.
As a result, we have had a diverse mix of values and cultures within the Group ever since our establishment, and that variety has been the driving force behind our growth as a company. For example, Monex, Inc., a financial instruments business operator in Japan, has grown in scale by acquiring such Japanese online brokerages as Saison Securities, Nikko Beans, and Orix Securities. We actively promote employees who have joined the Group via acquisitions to management positions, regardless of company of origin or age. Moreover, to enable a diverse range of talent to realize diverse workstyles, we have established a salary structure with no gender pay gap and a system that allows employees to drive the business forward based on ability in an atmosphere of mutual respect. This corporate culture, with its emphasis on autonomy and fairness, forms the foundation of our approach to formulating a forward-looking vision in an inductive manner, and the foundation of our approach to enhancing value while keeping the unique qualities and corporate cultures of each Group company intact. It is a key element driving innovation at the Group.
The IDEI AWARD has been held annually since 2005 as an internal recognition program designed to honor individuals and teams who have demonstrated exceptional creativity and implemented innovative approaches. Open to employees across all Group companies worldwide, the award celebrates groundbreaking ideas and their successful execution.
