[TOKYO] Morgan Stanley’s Japanese investment-banking joint venture plans to hire more bankers this year to compete with Nomura Holdings Inc and defend its three-year grip on mergers advice in the country.

The US bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.agreed to increase staff at their securities firm, including people to cover industries and advise on takeovers, Deputy President Haruo Nakamura said in an interview last month, without giving numbers. The joint venture already added 60 bankers over the past two years to about 460, according to Nakamura.

“It won’t be easy for us to sustain our position because the competition with other megabanks and foreign banks is intensifying,” said Nakamura, head of investment banking at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. “Clients have a perception that Nomura is stable because of its large workforce.”

Morgan Stanley and MUFG have been gaining market share in Japanese investment banking since they formed two joint ventures five years ago. They trailed only Nomura among underwriters of equity offerings in the country last year while topping the rankings for managing bond sales and M&A advice at a time when more companies are pursuing takeovers to cope with a slowing economy.