2025 Premier Retirement Plan Goals and Guidelines

In Japan, the aging of society is becoming more and more serious, and the reality is that life security after retirement is not sufficient. We are at a major turning point in thinking about future life planning. While the number of elderly people is increasing, the burden on society as a whole is also growing, and it is becoming difficult to cover our lives with the traditional pension system alone. Therefore, each individual's savings and investment power are directly linked to the stability and quality of life in the future. Many people are worried about whether they will really be able to live comfortably after retirement.

In response to this situation, the IAS Investment Club provides innovative support to help members create flexible and practical retirement plans. Our goal is to help members prepare for a rich retirement with their own hands, rather than relying excessively on the pension system.

As part of this, we launched the "Premier Retirement Plan". This is a specialized investment plan that allows each member to create a more secure guarantee with an eye on the future of themselves and their family. The problem of retirement funds is now a challenge for the entire society, and it is a theme that each of us must face head on. At IAS, we are confident that our well-designed investment strategy will help you achieve a stable and secure retirement.

1. Results so far

Over the four years from 2021 to 2024, IAS's Premier Retirement Plan has accumulated a solid track record.

Initially, it started with a focus on Japanese stocks, and later expanded into the US stock market. Since last year, in collaboration with Goldman Sachs' large stock brokerage division, we have been actively expanding into multiple investment fields, including Japanese stocks, US stocks, primary markets, high-yield funds, and high-yield bonds.

Every year, we continue to update our investment strategy based on our past experience, and our target returns have improved year by year. In the first year, we achieved a return of 159% of the principal, and last year, we achieved remarkable results, with a capital increase of up to 635%.

2. Current market environment analysis

According to market data as of March 31, 2025, there are 3,785 companies listed in Japan.

Of these, companies that are highly dependent on exports account for about 40% of the total, and the entire Japanese stock market is essentially structured to be driven by export-oriented companies.

Impact of the Trump Administration's Policies

Since President Trump was officially re-elected on January 20, 2025, he has been forcibly pushing forward with his fair trade and tariff policy, and has implemented multiple significant tariff hikes on exports from Japan, China, Europe, and other countries.

This series of radical trade measures has suddenly increased trade tensions around the world, resulting in the collapse of the entire financial market.

The damage is particularly severe for countries like Japan, which are heavily dependent on global supply chains and have an export-oriented economic structure.

In addition, special trade sanctions have been taken against China, escalating friction between China and the United States. Since China is one of Japan's most important export destinations, the damage to the Chinese economy has had a knock-on negative impact on the foreign demand business of many Japanese companies. This impact has placed a strong downward pressure on Japanese stocks as a whole.

Since President Trump signed the first executive order on tariff hikes on February 1, 2025, the Nikkei average has plummeted from 39,572 yen to a record low of 30,792 yen. The decline rate is -22.18%, a serious drop equivalent to the sharp drop in August last year. Pressure

from the strong yen

President Trump's repeated broken promises and irresponsible words and actions have increased distrust in the creditworthiness of the US government in the market, and concerns about the recession of the US economy have also intensified. As a result, funds from all over the world have sold dollar assets and flowed into the yen, which is considered a safer asset, accelerating the appreciation of the yen.

Before Trump's inauguration, the exchange rate was 159 yen to the dollar, but the yen has appreciated to a maximum of 139 yen to the dollar.

At first glance, the strong yen itself may seem positive, but it creates a very difficult situation for Japanese export companies.

This is because even without tariffs, the price competitiveness of Japanese products will drop significantly overseas if the yen becomes strong. If high tariffs are added to this, the international competitiveness of export companies will further decline, orders will decrease and profits will fall sharply.

The Nikkei average is mainly composed of export-oriented companies such as automobiles, electronic devices, and machinery, so downward pressure on stock prices overall continues.

Current risks for Japanese stocks

Currently, the Nikkei average has recovered about 60% from its temporary decline, but the reality is that there is a lack of material to support a further rebound.

Minister of Economic Revitalization Ryo Akazawa has visited the United States multiple times since April 30th and is attempting tariff negotiations with U.S. Treasury Secretary Becente.

The reports have been optimistic, with the negotiations being positive, but in reality, no concrete results have been achieved yet.

In addition, President Trump himself has expressed his intention to negotiate with China, but the conflicts that have built up over the years between China and the United States have not been resolved at all, and no fundamental improvement has been achieved.

In particular, the Chinese government has repeatedly indicated its intention to not compromise even if trade with the United States is cut off, and even if negotiations are resumed, there is a good chance that the situation will worsen again during the negotiation process.

Some analysts say that the impact of the rekindling of the trade conflict between the United States and China on the global stock market crash in April accounted for more than 50% of the overall decline. According

to a market research report issued by Goldman Sachs, overseas mid- to long-term investment institutions and value-oriented investors who have already withdrawn from the market due to concerns over President Trump's unpredictable behavior are still maintaining a wait-and-see attitude, waiting for the outcome of tariff negotiations to become clear.

Furthermore, the United States' airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities on the night of June 21 local time have suddenly increased geopolitical risks, having a major short-term impact on global financial markets.

If the Japan-US and US-China negotiations do not go well, or if retaliatory actions are taken between the US and Iran, further increasing regional tensions, it could be a double blow to the Japanese market.

As Japan is highly dependent on overseas funds, if these destabilizing factors are combined, the already deteriorating export environment will be further pressured, and there is a risk of further outflow of funds by overseas investors. As a result, there is a possibility of a second wave of shock that will hit the market hard again.

In addition, the club conducted a comprehensive market analysis based on the "GS Pure Estimates Momentum Japan Long-Short Net TR Index". As a result, even if the tariff negotiations proceed smoothly, the view that it will be difficult for the Nikkei average to fully recover to the level before the decline is growing. It is unlikely that

a sudden and continuous crash like the last time will occur, but it is still judged that the medium-term downward trend of the Nikkei average is not over yet. It is highly likely that the market will enter a downward trend again from July, and we expect it to fall to around 28,000 yen. At this point, we still need to approach the market with a high level of caution.

3. Planning and Execution

Based on the results and guidelines of last year's Premier Retirement Plan, this year we have compared and analyzed multiple investment destinations, including Japanese stocks, US stocks, the primary market, high-yield bonds, and high-dividend stock funds, and have identified investment opportunities in each phase. In addition, based on our experience using automated trading technology using AI, which we have been trialing since last year, we have taken thorough measures against risks in advance.

As market uncertainty remains high, we are making preparations by assuming multiple patterns in advance so that we can respond to any risk scenario, and we will continue to move forward with our plan with stable management as the core.

Specific strategies are as follows:

Fully strengthening our strategic partnership with Goldman Sachs

We will actively utilize the latest AI trading technology and dramatically improve the accuracy of our investment decisions through data-based analysis and judgment. We will focus our investments on the primary stock market, avoiding stocks related to exports and those with high policy risks as much as possible, and will adopt a flexible medium- to short-term trading strategy by focusing on individual stocks with good fundamentals and expected to rise significantly in the short term.

The most important thing is that all members adhere to the strategy. In order to protect the interests of the entire club to the maximum extent possible, all members must act in accordance with the investment policy set by the club, without bringing in personal feelings or preferences. As the current situation remains unpredictable, all buying and selling will be judged, executed, and adjusted flexibly based on real-time data and market movements.

Thorough information management In order to protect the club's strategy and safety, all members must maintain strict confidentiality regarding information within the club. It is prohibited to leak any information shared within the club, such as investment strategies and market analysis, to outside parties, thereby maintaining the advantage of unique strategies and a safe execution system.

Support system

Providing a flexible investment style Some members have limited free time due to work or family circumstances. Taking such circumstances into consideration, the club provides as flexible an investment plan as possible so that they can invest comfortably according to their lifestyle.

Support for those who are not good at operating For those who are not good at operating smartphones or computers, the club has a full trading support system. Club assistants will support all trading procedures and follow up to ensure that transactions proceed as planned. In addition, if you are unable to operate the system yourself for some reason, you can use the free proxy trading service provided by the club. Through proxy operations by specialized staff, you can receive the results of the club's strategies as they are.

Sharing market analysis data Members who participate in the investment plan can continuously share with the club market research reports provided by the Goldman Sachs Group and forecast data for industries and individual stocks based on the "GS Pure Estimates Momentum Japan Long-Short Net TR Index" developed by the company. This index is a specialized index that analyzes the long and short fund trends of institutional investors in the Japanese stock market and predicts future stock price trends.

One-on-one individual guidance to deepen market understanding In addition to making investments, the club also provides one-on-one learning support to help you understand the market more deeply. The contents of the training are as follows:

How to use various technical indicators such as RSI, MACD, KDJ, etc.

Techniques and strategies to see through the movements of large and institutional investment funds

Macro analysis and forward-looking perspective on global financial markets

Real-time and multifaceted analysis of stock markets, industries, and individual stocks

Through these trainings, we aim to help members to understand the market more correctly and improve their judgment and response abilities.

5. Profits and costs

Implementation period July 1st to September 30th, 2025 (90 days)

Target profit Based on the growth trend of annual profits through investment plans over the past four years and the strategy using the newly introduced AI automatic trading system this year, this year's investment plan aims to increase the principal by 300 to 600% in three months.

Example: If you invest 1 million yen, we expect it to increase to 4 million to 7 million yen at the end of the plan.

About expenses and fees After the end of this plan, 10% of the profits (before tax) earned by the member will be borne by the club management fee and the partnership fee with Goldman Sachs. This fee is to ensure that the Club can continue to provide a high level of support and strategic management, and participants are expected to pay this fee at the end of the plan. 6.

Future outlook and continued development

After the 2025 Premier Retirement Plan is completed, the IAS Investment Club will review the investment results of the plan and adjust and restructure its investment strategy for the next stage based on the results. The

Club's long-term goal is to steadily realize asset formation, centered on retirement funds, so that members can live comfortably in their old age. To that end, we will continue to optimize our investment portfolio and aim for stable and steady asset growth.