CEO Message

In this, my first message in our Integrated Report as Group CEO, I would like to explain in my own words how ORIX will continue to increase corporate value through sustainable earnings growth and improved capital efficiency.

In November 2023, on the occasion of the 60^th anniversary of our founding, we launched the ORIX Group Purpose & Culture: Our Purpose: “Finding Paths. Making Impact. We combine innovative thinking and diverse expertise to find pathways to impact in a world of change.” Our Culture: “Find Power in Diversity,” “Find Adventure in Challenge,” and “Find Opportunity in Change”. This Culture will be the foundation for how I act as Group CEO, and I will share these values across the entire Group, leading ORIX so that our Purpose directly contributes to increased corporate value.

After assuming the role of President and Group COO in January 2025, I formulated and announced our Long‑Term Vision 2035 and the ORIX Group Growth Strategy 2035. The fiscal year ending March 2026 marked the beginning of the execution phase, as we initiated specific measures such as optimizing our business portfolio. To realize our Long‑Term Vision, it is essential that we optimize our business portfolio and capital allocation while strengthening our executional capabilities. I am committed to ensuring these initiatives are not just one‑offs, but become an enduring management framework that is at the foundation of sustainably increasing corporate value.

Since becoming Group CEO, we have restructured our organization, introducing a CxO structure, and transforming our business model. The world around us is changing rapidly. Geopolitical risks, inflation and changes in the interest‑rate environment, technological innovation, and the energy transition are creating both business opportunities and risks at an unprecedented pace. In such an environment, we cannot wait for change—we need to identify opportunities as change unfolds, make decisions quickly, and execute decisively. To realize our Long‑Term Vision, I am steadily transforming our management structure so we can turn changes in the business environment into opportunities for growth.

Transitioning to a CxO Structure and Its Purpose

ORIX has expanded significantly in both business domains and geographic reach, growing into a global corporate group with diverse expertise and deep on‑the‑ground knowledge. To turn this scale and complexity into a source of strength, we must evolve from a management model centered on a CEO who makes every key decision to one where each member of the leadership team brings their expertise to bear and decisions are made from a Group‑wide perspective.

Our aim is clear. We will allocate management resources to areas with high profitability and growth potential, thereby enabling faster decision‑making closer to the business. At the same time, we will strengthen financial discipline, risk management, and Group‑wide controls. Through this approach, we seek to build a structure that balances growth speed with management discipline. Investors rightly focus not only on the soundness of a strategy, but also on its effectiveness. I will position ORIX for its next stage of growth by balancing delegation with governance, and encouraging bold action while maintaining disciplined risk management, all while ensuring clear accountability.

Based on this thinking, I implemented an organizational restructuring upon becoming CEO and subsequently introduced a CxO structure. Each business unit now has a COO, while the corporate functions have leaders such as the CFO & CSO and the CRO. Each executive is responsible for their respective domain, while also serving as a member of the Group’s senior leadership team, helping lead the company as a whole. What I expect from each executive on the leadership team is not merely the management of their own areas, but an active commitment to enhancing corporate value across the entire Group by taking responsibility for earnings growth, capital efficiency, and risk management.

For this reason, each COO and the CFO & CSO, in addition to myself, presented their execution plans and concrete initiatives within their respective domains at the Global Management Conference held in May—where 156 key leaders from around the world gathered in Tokyo—and at the ORIX Investor Day held in July. Rather than relying on the CEO alone, each member of the leadership team spoke directly about their strategy and execution in their own words. This is crucial for enhancing management transparency and instilling a sense of ownership across the organization. To realize our Long‑Term Vision, it is essential that the executives responsible for each business and function take ownership and steadily deliver results in earnings growth, capital efficiency, and risk management.

In this Integrated Report, and in addition to my own message, I asked each COO, the CFO & CSO, and Mr. Kataoka, President of ORIX Life Insurance, to share their strategies, capital‑allocation policies, and execution priorities in their own words. Together, we aim to show concretely how ORIX, with its diverse businesses, will achieve Group‑wide growth.

Transforming Our Business Model

ORIX has expanded its business domains in step with changing times, growing into a corporate group that operates diverse businesses in Japan and around the world. From the outside, this diversity can sometimes appear complex. Yet it is precisely this diversity that enables us to identify growth opportunities amid shifting market conditions, diversify risk, and steadily build earnings. ORIX’s strengths include diverse businesses, knowledge of both finance and operations, networks cultivated on the ground, and the depth of our talent base. Together, these allow us to execute investment, development, operations, and capital recovery in an integrated manner, from creating business opportunities through to realization, thereby enhancing both profitability and competitiveness.

I categorize these strengths into two business models: Alternative Investment & Operations, and Business Solutions. The Alternative Investment & Operations Model is a framework for enhancing business value through investment, development, and operations, and then channeling those results into the next stage of growth. Identifying attractive investment opportunities and investing with discipline is essential. However, what truly defines ORIX is the involvement and execution that follow. The Business Solutions Model is a framework for identifying new business opportunities by starting from the issues faced by customers and society. Throughout our history, ORIX has created new businesses and services by listening to our customers and acting on insights gained in the field. New businesses rarely emerge from discussions around a conference table alone; more often, they emerge from working closely with customers and continuously addressing the challenges they face.

We determine how to engage with each business, how to enhance its earnings power and competitiveness, and when to continue investing for further growth or recycle capital into new opportunities. The ability to execute this full cycle by integrating financial expertise, operational capabilities, and risk management is a major strength of ORIX.
However, in an environment where business conditions and capital markets are changing, simply maintaining the strengths we have built is not enough. To drive our next stage of growth, we will further evolve and deepen these two business models, raising capital efficiency and building a more sustainable earnings structure.

With our Alternative Investment & Operations Model, we will accelerate investment in alternative assets where we can enhance profitability and competitiveness. Furthermore, we will use these assets to establish funds that bring in 3rd party investors. This will allow us to expand asset‑management and fee income, evolving toward a model that achieves growth while reducing capital intensity. Through the Business Solutions Model, we will deepen our engagement with customers and expand both our service offerings and managed assets. This will allow us to build a more stable base of recurring fee income while leveraging the expertise we have built in Japan into overseas markets.

I view these two business models as a mutually reinforcing cycle of growth. We identify new business opportunities from customer and societal challenges and then enhance the value of those businesses. The insights and networks gained through business operations feed into the next round of customer problem‑solving. Our ability to feed and drive this cycle continuously is the source of ORIX’s competitive advantage and the foundation of our sustainable earnings growth.

Pursuing Greater Corporate Value

The ORIX Group has set out a Long‑Term Vision 2035. Our aspiration is “Making Impact through Alternative Investments & Operations and Business Solutions.” As performance indicators, we aim to achieve ROE of 15% and ¥1 trillion in net income by the fiscal year ending March 2035. These targets will not be easy to achieve. Investors have rightly asked many questions about feasibility, timing, and our approach to capital allocation. Our Long‑Term Vision is not a mere stretch target extrapolated from the status quo. It is a management objective designed to change how we allocate resources, how the organization makes decisions, and how every employee acts.

I regard the simultaneous pursuit of earnings growth and improved capital efficiency, while maintaining financial soundness, as the most critical management priority. Driving growth is not simply a matter of expanding investment. I will allocate resources more effectively by emphasizing the balance between growth potential, profitability, capital efficiency, and risk. I will invest proactively in attractive growth areas, while continuously reviewing our business portfolio from the perspectives of capital efficiency and future potential. Disciplined capital allocation and a sound financial foundation are prerequisites for sustainable earnings growth and enhanced corporate value.

If our sole objective were to raise ROE, ORIX could choose to simply divest low‑efficiency businesses, retain only high‑efficiency ones, or increase leverage. But what I aim for is neither business contraction nor taking on excessive financial risk merely to hit numerical targets. At the same time, pursuing earnings growth alone is not sufficient. To enhance corporate value sustainably, we must pursue earnings growth, capital efficiency, and financial soundness simultaneously. Maintaining this balance is the essence of management.

Our goal is not simply to expand profit scale or improve capital efficiency in the short term. It is to raise both our growth potential and capital efficiency by enhancing business value, rotating capital, and expanding fee income. Since becoming CEO, I have engaged in extensive dialogue with investors in Japan and around the world. The questions that have arisen repeatedly are: “How will ORIX grow from here?” and “How will you achieve ROE of 15% and ¥1 trillion in net income?” I do not intend to answer these questions with numbers alone. I will demonstrate the earnings structure, capital‑allocation approach, and execution framework behind these targets, and build trust through execution. We will continue turning customer and societal challenges into business opportunities, enhancing the earnings power and competitiveness of our portfolio companies, recycling capital into new growth opportunities in a disciplined manner, and strengthening our people and organization. Through these efforts, we will drive earnings growth and improve capital efficiency.

Today, ORIX is often evaluated based on the value of its assets. But what we aim for is to evolve into a company evaluated beyond asset‑based metrics, and to instead be judged based on our growth capability and capital efficiency.
To achieve this, we will enhance the value of our assets and businesses, recycle capital, and translate this into sustainable earnings growth. This is the ORIX I intend to build.

Empowering People and Organizations

People are the foundation of ORIX’s corporate value. It is the power of our people and organization that turns strategies and business models into results. We operate a wide range of businesses in Japan and overseas. This requires specialists who deeply understand each business and region. At the same time, we need leaders who can oversee the Group as a whole, while managing the business with its future direction firmly in mind.

I personally have gained experience across many businesses and regions. Through these experiences, I have come to realize that people grow most when they face new environments and difficult challenges. In 2011, I took on responsibility for the renewable energy business, where I led the expansion of our operations globally. In 2018, I relocated to London, experiencing my first overseas assignment just before turning fifty. Both were challenges in unfamiliar domains, but looking back, these experiences greatly broadened my perspective and contributed to my growth. These experiences have led me to believe that training programs and personnel systems alone are not enough to develop talent. Challenging assignments in different business areas, overseas experiences, exposure to both frontline and corporate functions, and participation in large projects or new businesses — these tough assignments provide opportunities to unlock each individual’s potential and cultivate the leaders who will guide ORIX into the next generation.

The capabilities required of our staff in the coming era are also changing. One will be the ability to collaborate across countries, regions, and business domains to create value. ORIX operates diverse businesses not only in Japan but around the world. To accelerate future growth, we must go beyond language skills: our employees will need to understand different cultures and values, build trust with partners inside and outside the company, and mobilize the collective strength of the Group. Another key strength will be the ability to leverage technology. Advances in AI and other technologies are transforming industries and business models. Utilizing digital tools is not an end in itself. However, to make better decisions, deliver greater value to customers, and create new businesses, we must be able to use data and technology effectively — both in management and on the frontlines.

Above all, what matters most is the willingness to keep learning and taking on new challenges. A company can provide opportunities to learn and environments to take on challenges. But true growth occurs when each individual takes the initiative, learns proactively, and acquires the skills and mindset needed for the future. Our Long‑Term Vision cannot be achieved by the executive team alone. It will be realized only when every employee across the world takes on challenges in their respective roles and creates new value. I will continue investing in our people, creating an environment where they can grow through diverse experiences, and dedicating myself to developing the talent who will lead the next generation of ORIX. In parallel, I will drive forward succession planning, strengthen external talent acquisition, and promote digital‑driven operational and management reforms — linking the strength of our people and organization directly to enhanced corporate value.

The values ORIX holds dear — Find Power in Diversity, Find Adventure in Challenge, and Find Opportunity in Change — must be embodied and practiced by everyone across our global operations. I believe those continued efforts will drive ORIX's next phase of growth. We will continue to embrace change positively, harness the power of our diverse businesses and people, and pursue sustainable growth. In realizing our Long‑Term Vision, we will steadily advance disciplined capital allocation, effective governance, and the empowerment of our people and organization — translating these efforts into enhanced corporate value. It is my responsibility to ensure execution and deliver results that meet the expectations of all stakeholders, including our shareholders and investors. I ask for your continued support as the ORIX Group continues to evolve into the future.