Agent cooperation system

Abstract

To achieve best matching between a fund issuer and a selling agent online by providing a mechanism for allowing an arbitrary fund selling agent as a consignment agent to join sales business of fund products provided by an invest type crowdfunding without previously determining a scheduled sales quantity which is a quota.SOLUTION: A plurality of arbitrary fund selling agents join public offering of funds over a network, and a system catches and manages the sales states of the respective fund selling agents in real time. Since the fund selling agents can join without being bound to a previously scheduled quantity, even a quantity of sales which is small to a fund selling agent, can be sold to their desired customer. To achieve cooperation between a plurality of fund issuer and a plurality of fund selling agents online in a cross-sectional manner, a suited partner is preferentially selected based on a matching variable, thereby matching is achieved.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system that links businesses involved in investment products that collect money from investors, invest and manage it as one large fund, and sell the investment products so that the results of the investment are distributed to each investor according to the amount of investment. [Background technology]

[0002] Crowdfunding has developed as a mechanism for raising funds in small amounts from an unspecified number of people via the Internet. Investment crowdfunding is a mechanism in which funds raised from multiple investors are used to invest and the returns obtained are distributed. Even if the investment amount raised from each investor is small, it is possible to invest a huge amount by raising investments from multiple investors. Investment targets include financial products such as stocks, bonds, futures, and foreign exchange, as well as physical real estate and any movable property.

[0003] When investing in real estate and other assets, a special purpose company is established and a silent partnership agreement is concluded with the investor, and the investment interests based on the agreement are treated as investment products. Therefore, in the following description, the business activity of selling securities or investment interests contributed based on a partnership agreement via a network such as the Internet will be referred to as investment-type crowdfunding.

[0004] In order to solicit investments from investors, fund issuers (fund issuers) that create and manage funds sell investment products in small lots to investors, but usually, fund issuers and businesses that sell the investment products to investors (fund distributors) are closely related. For example, in terms of capital or personnel, fund issuers and fund distributors are almost always in the same corporate group or affiliated group companies. This is because they want to avoid profits flowing to rival companies by enclosing customers while sharing customer information only within the same or affiliated corporate group. In other words, the investment products sold by issuers are products for investors held by fund distributors within their own corporate group. Therefore, a fund distributor that sells the investment product is determined for each fund, and any fund distributor cannot sell any fund.

[0005] The same is true for investment trusts, which are formed by combining financial products such as stocks and bonds. Investment trust sales companies and investment trust management companies are part of the same or related corporate group, and an idea has been proposed for building a platform that allows smooth exchange of transaction data related to daily transactions related to investment trust sales between these companies (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

[0006] In addition, when actually requesting the sale of a fund's investment products to a fund distributor, the conventional way has been to agree in advance on the ratio of the number of units that the fund distributor plans to sell to investors to the total number of units of the investment products sold by the fund. For example, if there are three fund distributors A, B, and C, they will allocate 40%, 40%, and 20% before the sale, and plan to sell out the targeted total number of units.

[0007] In this way, until now, investment-based crowdfunding has involved a fund issuer working in cooperation with a specific related fund sales company to sell small investment products to investors linked to the fund sales company, and the fund sales company is assigned a quota in advance regarding the number of units it plans to sell out of the total number of fund units. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-153222 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] Therefore, as a condition for a fund distributor to participate in an investment-type crowdfunding, the distributor may be required to agree to a quota of the number of shares to be sold. In such cases, if the fund distributor determines that it will be difficult to sell to the investors who are its customers, even if it wishes to do so, it will often refrain from selling to the customers of the crowdfunding. Furthermore, even after deciding to sell, if the distributor determines that it will not be able to sell the quota, the fund issuer must contact other fund distributors and ask them to sell on its behalf, which requires a lot of work.

[0010] In addition, the closed relationship between fund issuers and fund distributors, such as being part of the same corporate group, has also been a hindrance to both fund issuers and fund distributors. For example, it is difficult for fund issuers to set high subscription amounts (fund set amounts) given that their investment products can only be sold by a limited number of fund distributors within the same corporate group. For fund distributors, if the only products they can sell are those issued by a limited number of fund issuers within their own company, they lose the diversity of the types and contents of products they offer to investors, which has a negative impact on their competitiveness as fund distributors.

[0011] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a mechanism that allows any fund sales business operator to participate as a sales trustee in the sale of investment products through investment-based crowdfunding, without having to determine in advance the number of units planned to be sold. Furthermore, by optimally matching fund issuers and fund sales businesses online across multiple companies and organizations based on the characteristics of the funds and businesses, etc., the aim is to enable fund issuers to entrust the sale of investment products to fund sales businesses of multiple corporate groups, and for fund sales businesses to sell investment products of fund issuers of multiple corporate groups. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the business collaboration system of the present invention collaborates with business operators involved in the sale of securities or investment interests based on partnership agreements via a network, and is characterized in having a fund registration means for receiving and registering information on funds related to the securities or investment interests based on partnership agreements and information on fund issuers that form or manage the funds from the fund issuers via the network, a sales operator registration means for receiving and registering information on fund sales operators that sell the funds to investors from the fund sales operators via the network, an investment solicitation means for accepting sales requests for the fund from the fund sales operators, on the premise that investment products of the fund will be sold to investors online without imposing a pre-planned sales fee on the fund sales operators, a situation grasping means for receiving the sales status of the fund from each of the fund sales operators via the network in real time, and a sales plan adjustment means for adjusting the sales plan for the fund based on the sales status of each of the fund sales operators.

[0013] In addition, in the business collaboration system of the present invention, the sales plan adjustment means further includes a matching means for predicting sales at the end of the fund solicitation period and instructing the adjustment of sales volume among multiple fund sales companies, or performing a matching process between a fund issuer registered in the fund registration means and a fund sales company registered in the sales company registration means in order to determine a priority sales recipient for the fund.

[0014] Furthermore, in the business collaboration system of the present invention, the matching means executes the matching process using matching conditions specified in advance by the fund issuer and the fund sales business, or the matching conditions include at least any of the maximum or minimum number of shares available for sale, investor attributes or number of investors, and standards required for licensing as a business, or the target fund targets real estate properties. Effect of the Invention

[0015] In the case of the business collaboration system according to the present invention, a number of optional fund sales businesses participate in a fund solicitation by a fund issuer via a network, and the system grasps and manages the sales status of each fund sales business in real time. Since each fund sales business can participate without deciding on a sales plan in advance, which is effectively a quota, a fund sales business can sell to its own customers (investors) who wish to purchase even if it is only a small number of shares. Sales through multiple optional fund sales businesses result in sales to a large number of investors, so that fund issuers have more opportunities to raise funds and can build funds with a much larger solicitation amount than before (expansion of scale).

[0016] In addition, the various participating fund distributors each sell to their own customers (investors), which leads to reaching a wide range of investors. As the investor base expands, the fund characteristics required will naturally not be uniform. In response to this, fund issuers can create investment products with a wide variety of types and contents to meet the needs of a wide range of investors (diversification of types and contents).

[0017] Furthermore, the business collaboration system according to the present invention is configured to, when cross-sectionally linking multiple fund issuers and multiple fund sales businesses online, preferentially select and match counterparts that match the characteristics of the fund, the attributes of the investors, and the licensing conditions and branding required of the business, etc. This increases the chances of finding investors who are serious about investing and can contribute to the establishment of the fund, making it possible to dramatically increase the probability of crowdfunding being successful. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an overall scheme of a first embodiment of a business collaboration system according to the present invention. [Diagram 2]1 is a functional block diagram showing main functions of a business collaboration system according to the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on which fund information is presented to investors. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on which detailed fund information is presented to an investor. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an input setting screen for investor information. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed in the business collaboration system of the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an overall scheme of a second embodiment of a business collaboration system according to the present invention. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed in a business collaboration system according to the second embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a server in the business collaboration system according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] An embodiment of an investment-based crowdfunding support system 100 (hereinafter referred to as the "linked system 100") will be described below with reference to the drawings. The linked system 100 of this embodiment will be described as investing in a real estate fund raised with actual real estate as the underlying asset, but the scope of application of the present invention is not limited to real estate funds. In addition to financial products such as stocks and bonds, the system is equally useful for turning any movable property, such as aircraft, ships, vehicles, and precious metals, into a fund.

[0020] FIG. 1 shows an overview of an overall scheme including a linkage system 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the linkage system 100 is a system that links a fund issuer 10 that acquires a real estate property 1 and issues a fund backed by the real estate property 1, with a fund sales business operator 20 that has as its clients investors 2 who wish to invest in real estate properties. The fund issuer 10 acquires real estate from real estate companies or real estate owners using operating funds sourced from investment money and the like collected from the investors 2, and distributes profits (rent and sales profits) obtained from the rental and sale of the real estate to the investors. The investors may include not only the investors 2 of the fund sales business operator 20, but also the investors 3 held by the fund issuer 10 itself.

[0021] The main functions of the linked system 100 include at least a property registration function 100a, a sales business registration function 100b, a fund management function 100c, a solicitation function 100d, a situation assessment function 100f, a sales number adjustment function g, and a fund management function 100h, as shown in Fig. 2. However, the functional block diagram shown in Fig. 2 is merely an example and is not particularly limited.

[0022] First, the fund issuer 10 enters into a transfer agreement with a real estate company (or a real estate owner) to acquire the target real estate. There are various types of schemes that can be established between the real estate company, the fund issuer, and the investor to issue investment products, manage the fund, and distribute profits, but for the sake of explanation in this embodiment, it is assumed that the target real estate property 1 has been transferred from the real estate company or the like to the fund issuer 10 and the ownership has been transferred.

[0023] The property registration function 100a of the linkage system 100 registers information on the target real estate property 1. If the fund issuer 10 determines that it cannot sell all of the fund units with only the investors 3 it has, such as in the case of acquiring a huge amount of real estate from a real estate company, it issues a request for investment product sales to the linkage system 100 to have the information on the target real estate registered, with the aim of selling to many investors. Upon receiving the request from the fund issuer 10, the property registration function 100a registers the information on the real estate property 1 in the database 5 connected to the linkage system 100.

[0024] The sales company registration function 100b receives a request from a fund sales company 20 that has multiple clients, namely investors 2, who wish to invest in a real estate fund, and registers information about the fund sales company 20 in the database 5. By registering the fund sales company 20 in the linkage system 100, the investors 2 are able to choose and invest in any real estate property registered in the property registration function 100a, without being limited to real estate properties related to a specific fund sales company.

[0025] In addition, since the linkage system 100 completes all procedures online, the terminal of the fund issuer 10 and the terminal of the fund sales company 20 are communicatively connected via a communication line 4 such as the Internet. Examples of the terminals include personal computers (PCs), mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets, and wearable terminals. The terminals connected to the communication line 4 by wire or wirelessly are set to be communicatively connected to each other, whereby the fund issuers and the fund sales companies are linked across the board via the linkage system 100.

[0026] The fund management function 100c registers information for the real estate property 1 registered by the property registration function 100a to be established and managed as a fund. Since an investment real estate fund is a system in which high-value assets such as real estate are divided into multiple units and the income (rent income, profits on sale, etc.) obtained from the real estate is distributed, it is necessary to plan in detail in advance the number of units to be offered, the investment amount per unit, the management period, the expected yield, the expense rate, etc. Furthermore, the information necessary for fund formation is read out as appropriate from the database 5 as reference fund information to be presented to investors 2, 3 when selling the fund.

[0027] The solicitation function 100d provides an interface for exchanging information between the linked system 100, the fund issuer 10, and the fund sales company 20. For example, for the property registration function 100a, a screen for inputting information about the real estate property 1 to be invested in is presented to the fund issuer 10. Also, a screen is displayed to present the investors 2 and 3 with fund information created by the fund management function 100c based on real estate property information, as shown in FIG. 3. That is, in order to enable the investors 2 and 3 to decide which real estate to select, summary information such as the amount of fund raised for the real estate property, the expected distribution rate, and the operation period, and information such as the location and number of building sections of the property are presented on the detailed screen to aid the investors in their investment decision, while providing a recruitment screen that allows input settings for the amount of investment to be applied for and appropriately displays a simulation of expected profits (see FIG. 4). Also, information on the investor himself (contact information such as name and address) is acquired via the fund sales company 20, but the investor information may be managed by the fund sales company 20 and not directly handled by the linkage system 100. An example of the input setting screen for investor information is shown in FIG. 5.

[0028] The status grasping function 100f is a function that can grasp the actual sales status of each fund sales company 20 in real time via the communication line 4. The sales plan adjustment function g is a function that predicts whether the final number of shares sold will reach the fundraising amount and the fund will be established based on the real-time sales situation grasped by the situation grasping function 100f, and adjusts the sales plan based on the prediction result. For example, if it is possible to grasp in real time that sales are going well, it is possible to aim to maximize profits by increasing the initial number of shares offered and extending the fundraising period. Also, if it is determined that sales can be made to a wider range of investors by further dividing the shares offered, it is possible to lower the price per share, and if the overall sales situation is poor, it is possible to extract and request a fund sales company that has the potential to sell more shares.

[0029] The fund management function 100h performs actual fund management based on the capital contributions from the investors 2 and 3. Specifically, for example, when the total capital contributions from the investors 2 and 3 are collected and the fund is established, the investment shares are tokenized and tokens are issued, and the tokens are transferred to the individual wallets of each investor according to the investment ratio of each investor. At the end of the management, the tokens in the investor's wallet are transferred to a wallet managed by the linked system 100 at the same time as the redemption amount is paid. In this embodiment, the fractionalized funds are tokenized in order to be managed using distributed ledger technology based on a blockchain platform, but it is not necessary to tokenize the funds or use a blockchain-based storage method.

[0030] In addition, the linkage system 100 creates legal documents such as contract establishment documents for various registrations and profit distribution / redemption from the start to the end of fund management, and sends them to investors. In addition to the functions described above, the linkage system 100 also performs communication processing via APIs and various other processing (for example, identity verification and anti-social forces checks), but since these are well-known matters or technologies, they will not be described in this specification.

[0031] 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of processing executed by the linkage system 100. There may be an embodiment in which any fund issuer 10 and fund sales business 20 can freely participate in the linkage system 100 without any restrictions whatsoever, but in this embodiment, business eligibility screening is performed so that only highly credible businesses are allowed to participate. The specific contents of the business eligibility screening are based on past business performance, etc.

[0032] First, the fund issuer 10 solicits real estate properties 1 to be managed as a fund through the solicitation function 100d of the linkage system 100. In response to this, when the fund issuer 10 enters, the linkage system 100 registers information necessary for fund formation, including information on the real estate properties 1 to be solicited and the desired solicitation amount (step S601). The registered real estate properties 1 become candidates for sale to investors 2 and 3 as a small-lot fund. The solicitation function 100d examines whether each of the registered real estate properties 1 is suitable for a fund, and creates a fund list that includes real estate properties 1 evaluated as suitable (step S602). The reason for such examination is to exclude in advance properties that are expected not to be able to be used as a fund even if they are solicited based on market supply and demand. If the fund issuer 10 is informed later that the fund will not be established, it will disappoint the investors, reducing their willingness to rejoin, and will also damage the corporate image of the fund issuer 10 and the fund sales business operator 20, so it is desirable to narrow down the number of funds that are likely to be popular as much as possible. Also, this is to prevent in advance the presentation of funds that are inappropriate for the fund issuer 10 based on past performance as targets for solicitation.

[0033] Since fund information such as the number of shares offered, investment amount per unit, management period, expected return, and expense rate has been created by fund management function 100c, linkage system 100 makes a fund list available for viewing via communication line 4. Fund sales business 20 checks the fund list (step S603), selects a fund that it wishes to handle from the list, and transmits a handling application request to linkage system 100 (step S604). When linkage system 100 receives the handling application request, it registers the sales business that sent the request using sales business registration function 100b.

[0034] In response to a request for handling from the fund sales company 20 in step S604, if it is determined that the sales can be entrusted to the fund sales company 20, the central office makes final decisions on various matters, such as the fees to be received from the fund sales company 20, and reports these (step S608).

[0035] Thereafter, the fund sales company 20 begins soliciting shares for sale to investors (step S609). Each fund sales company 20 can sell to their respective investor clients until the total number of shares applied for for the entire fund has been reached. From the perspective of fairness, which fund sales company 20's investors will be sold to may be determined on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition to determining on a first-come, first-served basis, a predetermined number of shares may be preferentially sold to a specific fund sales company, for example, depending on the past contribution and track record of each fund sales company to the linked system 100.

[0036] In this way, the present invention leaves the actual fund solicitation to investors up to each fund sales company. The fund issuer 10 does not take on all the tasks required for soliciting investors and managing the fund, including procuring the actual real estate. The fund issuer 10 and the fund sales company 20 separate their roles and carry out their original businesses, while each can reach a wide range of real estate properties and investors.

[0037] As described above, each fund distributor is not required to meet a sales quota, but reports the sales status to the linkage system 100 in real time. In response to this, the status grasping function 100f of the linkage system 100 centrally manages the sales of the fund (step S610). By grasping the sales status of each fund distributor online in real time, it is possible to predict the final number of units sold by each fund distributor to some extent. For example, if the total number of units sold is less than a predetermined percentage (for example, about 10%) even though more than half of the period from the start of the offering to the end of the offering has passed, there is a high probability that the units will remain unsold at the end of the offering, and there is a risk that the fund will ultimately not be established. Therefore, the sales plan adjustment function g of the linkage system 100 predicts the number of units that will remain unsold (step S611), and if it determines that the units will remain unsold, it changes the sales plan (Yes in step S612). For example, if it is determined that the units can be sold to a wider range of investors by dividing the units offered into smaller units, it instructs to change the plan to lower the price per unit or adjust the sales volume. In addition, as necessary, fund distributors with many investors or those selling well are extracted, and the revised sales plan is reported via communication lines (step S613), requesting them to sell more. This significantly reduces the work of the fund issuer 10, and makes it easier to sell out the offered fund.

[0038] Conversely, if it becomes clear online that sales are going well, it is possible to change or adjust the sales plan on a case-by-case basis, such as increasing the initial total number of fund shares or extending the subscription period. Accurately understanding the sales status of each fund distributor in real time makes it possible to make flexible changes and adjustments without being bound by initial sales targets and plans.

[0039] In addition, fund sales businesses that take on further sales and find additional investors may be given positive rewards, such as lower commission fees or preferentially allotting a larger number of shares in the next fund solicitation, while fund sales businesses with poor sales may be given negative rewards, such as being denied participation in the next fund solicitation in the business eligibility screening or being charged higher commission fees.

[0040] Returning to the flowchart of Figure 6, if the total number of sales reaches the target number of shares to be offered for the fund, the fund is established (step S614). After that, the actual fund is managed by the fund management function 100h of the linked system 100, and profits are distributed to investors and amortization procedures are carried out (step S615). The fund management itself is not directly related to the present invention, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0041] Once it is confirmed in step S615 that fund management is being carried out normally, the sales results including the final sales volume and sales amount of each fund sales company, as well as the content and results of changes to the sales plan in steps S612 and S613, are reflected in database 5 (step S616), so that they can be used for future new fund solicitations.

[0042] Second embodiment In the case of the linkage system 100 of the first embodiment, a plurality of fund sales companies 20 compete to sell a fund when a single fund issuer 10 solicits funds. In contrast, in the case of the linkage system 200 of the second embodiment, as shown in Fig. 7, there are a plurality of fund issuers 10, and the linkage system 200 is configured to cross-match the plurality of fund issuers 10 and the plurality of fund sales companies 20 online. Furthermore, a functional feature of the linkage system 200 of the second embodiment is that it further comprises a matching function 200e as an additional function to the functions of the linkage system 100 of the first embodiment.

[0043] From the perspective of the fund distributor 20, when there are multiple fund issuers 10 as in the second embodiment, it may not be possible to immediately determine which fund issuer's fund is best. From the perspective of the fund issuer 10, there may be cases where the fund issuer wishes to avoid having a specific fund distributor sell the fund, or conversely, there may be cases where the fund issuer wishes to have a specific fund distributor actively sell the fund.

[0044] Therefore, the matching function 200e performs a matching examination to determine which fund distributor 20 is suitable to be matched with which fund issuer 10 (step S805 in FIG. 8). For example, if a specific fund distributor is judged to be inappropriate for a certain fund issuer, even if the fund distributor applies to handle the fund and wishes to sell the fund, it will not be able to handle the fund (No in step S806). Furthermore, a fund distributor that is judged to be suitable may not only be able to handle the fund, but may also be given preferential treatment such as a priority quota to sell a large number of shares or lower fees (step S808).

[0045] Therefore, prior to the matching process in step S805, the linkage system 200 has the fund issuer 10 set in advance the standards it desires or should impose on the fund sales company for the business partnership, such as the fund sales company standards that comply with the fund issuer's business licenses and permits, the capital of the fund sales company, the maximum and minimum number of shares that the fund sales company can sell, the attributes of investors that can be intermediary and the number of investors.

[0046] Fund sales businesses 20 are also required to set in advance the fund issuer standards that conform to their own business licenses, the attributes of the investor base that can be intermediated, the expected maximum and minimum number of shares that can be sold, the locations and uses that they are good at selling, etc. They may also set the branding of their own brokerage business or the branding they require of the fund issuer as necessary. In addition, they are also required to set standards that they expect or should impose on the fund issuer in a business alliance, such as the use, size, and quality of the property that corresponds to the attributes of the investors that can be intermediated.

[0047] The matching function 200e of the linkage system 200 uses the above information set by the fund issuer 10 and the fund sales company 20 as matching variables, examines whether there are any partners with matching variables while taking into consideration the actual use, scale, and quality of the property as well, and selects one or more fund sales companies 20 for each fund as sales handling parties. It is also possible to select which of multiple matching variables to give priority to, that is, from a weighted average value based on the proportion of the weights assigned to the matching variables.

[0048] The matching process allows the fund issuer 10 to preferentially select a fund distributor 20 that has the investor demographic that its fund wishes to target, and on the other hand, the fund distributor 20 to preferentially select a fund issuer 10 that handles funds that suit the characteristics of its investors and its own branding, enabling efficient sales that are satisfactory to both parties. Furthermore, this matching process is useful for selecting a counterparty and determining the content of adjustments when changing or adjusting a sales plan in the sales plan adjustment function g.

[0049] An example of the matching process will be described. Now, suppose that fund issuer A, fund issuer B, fund distributor X, fund distributor Y, and fund distributor Z are connected to the linkage system 200. Suppose that a value indicating that the investor base held by fund distributor X tends to select high risk / high return, that the investor base held by fund distributor Y tends to select middle risk / middle return, and that the investor base held by fund distributor Z tends to select low risk / low return is set in the risk selection variable. If the real estate fund provided by fund issuer A is a low risk / low return type fund based on its size, expected yield, etc., the matching function 200e selects fund distributor Z as the sales handling destination, and fund distributors X and Y are deemed ineligible for handling.

[0050] In addition, if real estate property 1 solicited by fund issuer A is a condominium for family use, a priority quota will be set so that fund sales business operator Z, which has investors with households, can sell the property over fund sales business operator X, whose investor base is made up of mostly single people.

[0051] According to the linkage systems 100 and 200 of the first and second embodiments, linkage between fund issuers and fund sales businesses is realized as a result of selection from a wide range of options. The fund issuer can reach an investor base that could not be imagined before, such as an investor base linked to a fund sales business other than the fund issuer itself or its affiliated fund sales business, and it is possible to provide real estate properties that meet the demands of investors and to dramatically increase opportunities to raise funds.

[0052] In addition, because the linkage system 200 acquires matching variables for online matching via a network from the fund issuer and the fund sales business, it becomes easier for both parties to recognize or distinguish counterpart businesses that meet the desired conditions, and appropriate matching results can be generated. This improves the efficiency of sales when soliciting funds, and in turn makes it possible to realize curation that adds new value by analyzing the data obtained by the matching.

[0053] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the server 50 included in the linkage systems 100 and 200. As shown in FIG. The server 50 includes a CPU 501 , a ROM 502 , a RAM 503 , a bus 504 , an input / output interface 505 , an input unit 506 , an output unit 507 , a storage unit 508 , a communication unit 509 , and a drive 510 .

[0054] The CPU 501 executes various processes according to a program recorded in the ROM 502 or a program loaded from the storage unit 508 to the RAM 503. The RAM 503 also stores data and the like necessary for the CPU 501 to execute various processes as appropriate.

[0055] The CPU 501, the ROM 502, and the RAM 503 are connected to one another via a bus 504. An input / output interface 505 is also connected to this bus 504. An input unit 506, an output unit 507, a storage unit 508, a communication unit 509, and a drive 510 are connected to the input / output interface 505.

[0056] The input unit 506 is configured with, for example, a keyboard and is used to input various information. The output unit 507 is configured with a display such as a liquid crystal display, a speaker, and the like, and outputs various information as images and sounds. The storage unit 508 is configured with a DRAM or the like, and stores various data. A communication unit 509 communicates with other devices via a communication network such as the Internet.

[0057] Removable media 511, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory, is appropriately attached to the drive 510. A program read from the removable media 511 by the drive 510 is installed in the storage unit 508 as necessary. The removable media 511 can also store various data stored in the storage unit 508 in the same manner as the storage unit 508. It should be noted that this hardware configuration is merely an example for achieving the object of the present invention, and is not particularly limited.

[0058] The terminal of the fund issuer 10 and the terminal of the fund sales company 20 may also have a configuration basically similar to the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 7. Therefore, a description of the hardware configuration of the terminal of the fund issuer 10 and the terminal of the fund sales company 20 will be omitted.

[0059] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and modifications, improvements, etc. within the scope that can achieve the object of the present invention are considered to be included in the present invention.

[0060] Furthermore, the above-mentioned series of processes can be executed by hardware or software. When the series of processes is executed by software, the program constituting the software is installed on a computer or the like from a network or a recording medium. A recording medium containing such a program can be configured not only as a removable medium (not shown) that is distributed separately from the device main body in order to provide the program to the user, but also as a recording medium or the like that is provided to the user in a state where it is pre-installed in the device main body.

[0061] Therefore, the present invention includes within its scope a program installed or loaded into a computer through various recording media, such as optical disks such as CD-ROMs, magnetic disks, and semiconductor memories, or by downloading via a communication network, and these storage media. Note that in this specification, the steps describing the program recorded on the recording medium include not only processes performed chronologically according to the order, but also processes that are not necessarily performed chronologically but are performed in parallel or individually. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 1 Real Estate Properties 2 Investor 3 investors 4. Communication lines 5. Database 10 Fund Issuers 20 Fund Sales Companies 50 Servers 100 Business Collaboration System (Collaboration System) 200 Business Collaboration System (Collaboration System)

Claims

1. A system for linking businesses involved in selling securities or investment interests based on partnership agreements via a network, comprising: a fund registration means for receiving and registering information on the fund relating to the investment interests based on the securities or partnership contracts and information on the fund issuer that establishes or manages the fund from the fund issuer via the network; a sales agent registration means for receiving and registering information on a fund sales agent who sells the fund to investors from the fund sales agent via the network; an investment solicitation means for receiving sales requests for the fund from the fund sales business operator on the premise that the investment product of the fund will be sold to investors online without imposing a pre-planned sales charge on the fund sales business operator; a status grasping means for receiving a sales status of the fund from each of the fund sales companies in real time via the network; a sales plan adjustment means for adjusting a sales plan for the fund based on the sales status of each of the fund sales businesses; A business collaboration system equipped with the following:

2. 2. The business cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein the sales plan adjustment means predicts sales at the end of the fund subscription period and issues an instruction to adjust sales volume among a plurality of fund sales businesses.

3. The business collaboration system described in claim 1, further comprising a matching means for performing a matching process between a fund issuer registered in the fund registration means and a fund sales company registered in the sales company registration means in order to determine a preferred sales recipient for the fund.

4. The business collaboration system according to claim 3 , wherein the matching means executes the matching process using matching conditions that are designated in advance by the fund issuer and the fund sales company.

5. The business collaboration system according to claim 4 , wherein the matching conditions include at least any one of a maximum or minimum number of shares that can be sold, investor attributes or number of investors, and standards required for approval as a business operator.

6. The business collaboration system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the fund targets real estate properties.

Images