4 Industries Resilient to Rising Interest Rates | Stock Prices Move First, It's Too Late Once It's a Hot Topic
Having heard that there are industries that profit when interest rates rise, are you wondering, “Can’t I make money by buying those stocks now?”
Let me give you the conclusion.
Insurance, securities, trading companies, and debt-free companies get a tailwind from rising interest rates. Even so, I am not going to buy stocks now.
The reason is simple: everyone already knows. Stock prices move before the economy or news, so by the time it becomes a hot topic, the stock price has already risen.
In this article, I will explain from the mechanism why these four industries are profitable, and then I will state clearly “when to buy” and “what you should do on a daily basis.”
4 Industries That Profit from Rising Interest Rates | Insurance, Securities, Trading Companies, and Debt-Free Companies
The four industries that get a tailwind when interest rates rise are insurance, securities, trading companies, and companies without debt.
In my previous broadcast, I talked about how banks profit from rising interest rates. This time, as a follow-up, I will cover the other four. This classification of industries is based on the second installment of “Industries That Profit from Rising Interest Rates” introduced by Ryogakucho on YouTube (Liberal Arts University).
On September 18, 2026, the Bank of Japan raised its policy interest rate from around 1.0% to around 1.25%. It has indicated a policy of continuing to raise rates depending on the economic and price situation.
Look at the right column of the chart. Behind the scenes of a company’s profit, in many cases, it is the customer who is paying for it.
Things have two sides. Knowing the mechanism of how to make money and buying those stocks are completely different stories.
I see that insurance, securities, and trading company stocks have risen significantly over the past two to three years. Like banks, these are industries that everyone already understands.
▼ Primary information referenced in this chapter
・Bank of Japan, “Regarding the Change in the Guideline for Market Operations,” September 18, 2026
・Ryogakucho, Liberal Arts University (YouTube), “[Part 2 / Insurance, Securities, Trading Companies Edition] 5 Industries That Profit from Rising Interest Rates: ‘I’ll Reveal How Each Industry Makes Money’ [Official Liberal Arts University Clip],” published October 5, 2026
How Insurance Companies Make Money | Maturity Benefits Remain as Contracted, the Increase Goes to the Company
With savings-type insurance, even if interest rates rise, the basic maturity benefit received by the policyholder remains the same amount as when the contract was signed.
Let me explain with a hypothetical example. Suppose there is an insurance policy where you pay 1 million yen in a lump sum and get 1.1 million yen back after 10 years. The insurance company invests that 1 million yen in government bonds, etc., and suppose the yield on government bonds at the time of the contract was 2%. (The numbers are hypothetical.)
Suppose that later, during the 10-year period, the yield on government bonds rises to 3%. Even so, all you will receive is the 1.1 million yen decided at the beginning. The portion of the increased yield goes into the pockets of the insurance company that is managing the funds.
This is the profit known as “interest margin.” Even from my perspective as someone who spent 15 years on the side of selling insurance, this is not someone’s malice, but the design of the product itself.
To be fair, for certain types of products with dividends, a portion of the returns that exceed expectations may be returned to the policyholder as dividends. Even so, the “assumed interest rate” that forms the foundation of the maturity benefit is generally determined at the time of contract and does not change midway.
Even if interest rates rise, your basic maturity benefit will not increase. The increase goes to the insurance company first.
As I wrote in my book ‘Graduating from Insurance,’ savings-type insurance policies with fixed amounts determined at the time of contract effectively lose value in an era of rising prices.
If you have a savings-type insurance policy, please take a look at the maturity benefit column of your insurance policy document just once. The amount written there is basically the amount you will receive, no matter how much interest rates rise from here on out.
▼ Primary sources referenced in this chapter
・ Japan Institute of Life Insurance, “What is an individual annuity insurance linked to market interest rates?” Life Insurance Q&A
・ My book, ‘Graduating from Insurance’
Securities companies profit from margin trading interest rates | Even the interest on borrowed amounts increases
A pillar of how securities companies profit from rising interest rates is the interest on margin trading.
If you are just steadily accumulating All Country or S&P 500 funds every month at Rakuten Securities or SBI Securities, the securities company makes almost no profit. Products with low fees are entry points to attract customers, known in the industry as door-knocker products.
However, as people get used to investing, greed sets in, and some start dabbling in other products. The prime example of this is margin trading.
For example, suppose you have 1 million yen and use 2x margin trading to conduct a 2 million yen transaction. Where did the extra 1 million yen come from? It is money borrowed from the securities company, in other words, debt. (The numbers are hypothetical.)
The interest rate on this debt is raised when market interest rates rise. One major securities firm raised the margin buying interest rate for online accounts from 1.69% per annum to 1.96% per annum, effective from the execution date of October 19, 2026. The new interest rate also applies to existing borrowed amounts starting October 21.
Another company also announced in a notice on October 9 that it would raise the margin buying interest rate for institutional margin trading in online transactions from 3.54% per annum to 3.69% per annum, effective from the execution date of October 22. This also applies the new interest rate to positions already opened.
Looking at the chart, while the Bank of Japan’s policy interest rate rose by 0.5 points from 0.75% to 1.25%, the margin buying interest rate rose by 0.76 points from 1.20% to 1.96%.
Margin trading is debt. If interest rates rise, even the interest on what you have already borrowed will increase.
I do not really recommend margin trading. I have summarized the mechanics and the real risks in a previous article.
If you do not have a margin trading account, you do not need to open one.
▼ Primary sources referenced in this chapter
・ Nomura Securities, “[Margin Trading] Notice of Change in Buying Interest Rate,” February 26, 2026
・Nomura Securities: “Notice Regarding Changes to Margin Trading Interest Rates for Online-Only Branches” June 25, 2026
・Nomura Securities: “Notice Regarding Changes to Margin Trading Interest Rates for Online-Only Branches to 1.96%” September 25, 2026
・SMBC Nikko Securities: “Notice Regarding Changes to Margin Trading Interest Rates” October 9, 2026
・Bank of Japan: “On the Conduct of Monetary Policy” March 19, 2026
・Bank of Japan: “On the Change in the Guideline for Market Operations” June 16, 2026, and September 18, 2026
Why Trading Companies and Debt-Free Companies Are Strong | Resource Price Hikes and ‘Not Having to Pay More Interest’
Trading companies are said to be strong in a world with interest rates because of rising resource prices, and debt-free companies are strong because their interest payments do not increase.
Major general trading companies are ‘jacks-of-all-trades’ that handle a wide variety of goods. They are particularly deeply involved in resources such as crude oil and natural gas. Periods of rising interest rates often coincide with periods of inflation, making resource prices more likely to rise as well.
People have no choice but to buy necessary items even if the price goes up slightly. If there are many buyers, sellers can confidently raise prices. Since trading companies are in that position, they are not poorly suited to a world with interest rates.
I will add just one thing. One of the major general trading companies mentions rising interest rates as a risk of increased interest burdens in its financial results materials. Its interest-bearing debt as of the end of March 2026 was 5.7469 trillion yen, and with some exceptions, it is at variable interest rates.
The company itself writes that while this will be offset with a time lag by earnings on the asset side, a sudden rise in interest rates could have a temporary negative impact. In other words, ‘rising interest rates → inflation → higher resource prices → trading companies make money’ is a scenario that only holds true after many steps are connected.
Grouping industries together and saying ‘buy because interest rates are rising’ is more dangerous than you might think.
For companies without debt, the story is much simpler. No matter how much interest rates rise, the interest they pay does not increase. Conversely, if they have money deposited in savings or bonds, the interest they receive and their investment returns will increase.
The more debt a company has, the harder it becomes during periods of rising interest rates. This is exactly the same for household finances.
▼ Primary sources referenced in this chapter
・Mitsubishi Corporation: “Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2026 [IFRS] (Consolidated)” Published May 1, 2026 (as of the end of March 2026)
When buying stocks, do it when no one is looking | Stock prices move before the economy
If you intend to buy individual stocks and hold them for a long time, the time to target them is not when that industry is a hot topic, but when everyone has turned their backs on it.
Stock prices move ahead of the economy, to the extent that they are called a leading economic indicator. The flow is generally like this.
Even though the economy is still strong, the upside of stock prices becomes heavy and they begin to slide downward. One day they drop sharply, and after that, talk of a ‘bad economy’ increases, and stock prices continue to fall rapidly. By the time everyone notices, it’s already after the decline.
And when the economy turns dark, no one looks at stock prices, and no one wants to think about asset formation. At that very moment, stock prices start to rise quietly.
Stock prices move before the economy. By the time everyone is talking about it, it has already gone up.
The approach to individual stocks held for the long term is what Buffett writes he learned from Charlie Munger: ‘Buy a wonderful company at a fair price.’ Even for excellent companies, there are times when they don’t ride the current trend and are left undervalued. That is when you pick them up at a fair price.
I personally bought shares in Japanese megabanks in October 2022, back when people were saying ‘interest rates won’t rise’ and ‘Japanese banks are no good.’ I didn’t do it to try and guess the market; it was part of my self-made ‘Pagu-o Fund,’ a collection of various Japanese consecutive dividend-growth stocks balanced by sector. Now that the stock prices have risen, I am not buying more.
I have written about how to choose stocks for long-term holding in previous articles.
Conversely, if you want to ride a trend, that is a short-term game. I believe that once everyone is talking about it, it is already time to sell.
I spent four years doing short-term trading following trends, and I quit this spring. No one knows where the top or the bottom is.
▼ Primary sources referenced in this chapter
・Berkshire Hathaway ‘Shareholder Letters’ 1989
Summary | No Need to Guess Sectors, Just Steadily Accumulate All-Country Funds
Even if you don’t try to guess which sectors will profit from rising interest rates, if you are accumulating an all-country fund, those sectors are already included from the start.
As of the end of September 2026, the index that serves as the basis for all-country funds includes approximately 2,400 large and mid-cap stocks from developed and emerging countries. As I wrote in my book ‘Graduating from Insurance,’ insurance companies, banks, and every other imaginable sector are all included together.
That is why, normally, you should just steadily accumulate all-country funds or the S&P 500 without trying to predict whether they are high or low. This is also the foundation of asset formation that I learned from Principal Ryo of LibeCity.
Investing is passive, business is active, and gambling is negative.
Chasing and trading trending sectors is the gateway to making your investing active. You can use a simulator to see how much you will have in how many years by investing a certain amount each month.
New NISA Accumulation & Withdrawal Simulator
There is only one thing to do today.
If you see a feature on a sector and feel like buying stocks, don’t buy them that day; just check your brokerage app to make sure your accumulation settings haven’t stopped.
▼ Primary sources referenced in this chapter
・MSCI ‘MSCI ACWI Index’ as of September 30, 2026
・My book “Graduating from Insurance”
▼Click here if you want to read more about the “Power to Grow Wealth”
▼Reference Materials (Verified October 19, 2026)
・Bank of Japan, “On the Conduct of Monetary Policy,” March 19, 2026
https://www.boj.or.jp/mopo/mpmdeci/mpr_2026/k260319a.pdf
・Bank of Japan, “Change in the Guideline for Market Operations,” June 16, 2026
https://www.boj.or.jp/mopo/mpmdeci/mpr_2026/k260616a.pdf
・Bank of Japan, “Change in the Guideline for Market Operations,” September 18, 2026
https://www.boj.or.jp/mopo/mpmdeci/mpr_2026/k260918a.pdf
・Japan Institute of Life Insurance, “What is a personal pension insurance linked to market interest rates?” Life Insurance Q&A
https://www.jili.or.jp/knows_learns/q_a/pension/410.html
・Nomura Securities, “[Margin Trading] Notice of Change in Buying Interest Rates,” February 26, 2026
https://www.nomura.co.jp/introduc/news/2026/20260226_1.html
・Nomura Securities, “[Margin Trading] Notice of Change in Buying Interest Rates for Online-Only Branches to 1.69%,” June 25, 2026
https://www.nomura.co.jp/introduc/news/2026/20260625_2.html
・Nomura Securities, “[Margin Trading] Notice of Change in Buying Interest Rates for Online-Only Branches to 1.96%,” September 25, 2026
https://www.nomura.co.jp/introduc/news/2026/20260925_1.html
・SMBC Nikko Securities, “Notice Regarding Changes to Margin Trading Interest Rates,” October 9, 2026
https://www.smbcnikko.co.jp/news/customer/2026/n_20261009_01.html
・Mitsubishi Corporation “Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2026 [IFRS] (Consolidated)” May 1, 2026
https://www.mitsubishicorp.com/jp/ja/ir/library/earnings/pdf/202605j.pdf
・MSCI “MSCI ACWI Index” as of September 30, 2026
https://www.msci.com/indexes/index/892400
・Berkshire Hathaway “Letter to Shareholders” 1989
https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1989.html
*Figures are based on past performance and do not guarantee future results.
*Pug-o is a supporting member of LibeCity. The foundation of my asset formation was learned from the philosophy of Ryogakucho (Liberal Arts University).
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