Acceptance of Asset Owner Principles

We, Konica Minolta, Inc., as an asset owner (an institutional investor that holds assets), declare that we agree and accept the intent of common principles for asset owners' investment, governance, and risk management (the “Asset Owner Principles”) for the best interests of participants and beneficiaries of contract-type defined benefit corporate pension.

Principle 1.
Asset owners should take into account the best interests of beneficiaries. In doing so, they should determine the purpose of investing, and then set investment targets and policies based on the purpose through an appropriate process, taking into account the economic and financial situation. The purpose of investing, targets, and policies should be reviewed as appropriately in response to changes in situations.

We, in our contract-type defined benefit corporate pension, aim to ensure the future payment of pension benefits and lump-sum payments for the benefit of beneficiaries such as recipients and participants, and the necessary long-term total returns.
In addition, taking into account the economic and financial situation, we establish an investment target over the long term and a basic portfolio, and review and decide once a year whether any revisions are necessary.

Principle 2.
Asset owners need to make decisions based on their expert knowledge, in pursuing the best interests of beneficiaries. They should develop an appropriate structure, by securing talents with sufficient knowledge and experience, in order to realize the investment purpose and policies set forth by Principle 1. They should make such a structure function properly, and consider using external knowledge and outsourcing when needed to receive and enhance expert knowledge.

We, in order to achieve our long-term investment target through appropriate investment and risk management, assign qualified personnel with experience in accounting and finance to our investment managers and hold the Pension Asset Management Committee to ensure appropriate governance. Furthermore, we utilize the analysis and advice from an external investment consultant to supplement and enhance expert knowledge that is necessary for appropriate investment decisions.

Principle 3.
Asset owners should choose investment methods appropriately to achieve the investment targets, based on the investment policies, from the viewpoint of the interests of beneficiaries, not those of themselves or third parties. Asset owners should appropriately manage risks, including by diversifying the investment portfolio. In particular, when they entrust investment to other entities such as financial institutions, the asset owners should select the optimal investment trustee while managing conflicts of interest. The choice of the investment trustee should be reviewed periodically.

We, in order to achieve our long-term investment target through appropriate investment and risk management, formulate the basic portfolio in accordance with our basic policy for the pension asset investment taking into account the results of pension asset management analysis etc., and appropriately manage risk by diversifying investments across traditional assets (stocks and bonds) and alternative ones. When selecting investment managers, we utilize the expert advice from an external investment consultant to select the most suitable investment managers while managing conflicts of interest appropriately, and we also regularly review them in accordance with quantitative standards compared to benchmarks.

Principle 4.
Asset owners should provide information on the status of asset management ("visualization") and engage in dialogues with stakeholders, in order to fulfill accountability to stakeholders.

We provide information on the minutes of the Pension Asset Management Committee and report on investment results on the company intranet, etc., in order to fulfill our accountability to stakeholders, including beneficiaries and participants.

Principle 5.
Asset owners should give consideration to the sustainable growth of investee companies by conducting stewardship activities by themselves or through the investment trustee, in order to achieve the investment targets for beneficiaries.

We accepted Japan's Stewardship Code in March 2021 and have announced our policy on each principle. We continuously monitor the stewardship activities of our investment managers to promote the enhancement of the corporate value and sustainable growth of investee companies through their stewardship activities.