Japan Annual Forum
AIMA welcomes you to join industry leading experts at the 14th AIMA Japan Annual Forum 2019 on Thursday 23rd May at The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo.
For further information and sponsorship enquiries, please contact Kana Someya at [email protected].
Agenda
Subject to Change
|
TIME |
SESSION |
|
8:15 AM – 8:40 AM |
REGISTRATION |
|
8:40 AM – 8:45 AM |
INTRODUCTION
|
| 8:45 AM - 8:50 AM |
WELCOME
|
| 8:50 AM - 9:30 AM |
GLOBAL REGULATION PANEL – CURRENT HOT TOPICS Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in English, a translator will be present.) |
|
9:30 AM – 9:50 AM |
KEYNOTE SPEAKER From ’Abenomics’ to a New Golden Age — Japan Outlook and Opportunities
(This session will be conducted in English, a translator will be present.) |
|
9:50 AM – 10:30 AM |
CHANGING JAPAN'S CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - IS MOMENTUM BUILDING? Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in English, a translator will be present.) |
|
10:30 AM – 11:10 AM |
CURRENT ALLOCATION THOUGHTS – JAPAN INVESTOR PANEL Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in Japanese, a translator will be present.) |
|
11:10 AM – 11:15 AM |
PRESENTATION OF THE JAPAN AIMA / CAIA SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
|
|
11:15 PM – 11:35 AM |
COFFEE AND NETWORKING |
|
11:35 AM – 12:15 PM |
PE/BUYOUT – CURRENT STATE OF PLAY Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in Japanese, a translator will be present.) |
|
12:15 PM – 12:55 PM |
WHERE TO NOW? – CRYPTO AND DIGITAL ASSETS UPDATE Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in English, a translator will be present.) |
| 12:55 PM – 1:10 PM |
EXAMINING THE TOKYO FINANCIAL INITIATIVES Co-created with the Standards Board of Alternative Investments
|
|
1:10 PM – 1:40 PM |
KEYNOTE AND FIRESIDE CHAT
(This session will be conducted in English, a translator will be present.) |
| 1:40 PM - 2:30 PM | LUNCH AND NETWORKING |
| 2:30 PM - 3:10 PM |
BREAKOUT 1: INSIDE THE MIND OF A VENTURE CAPITALIST – LATEST VC TRENDS IN JAPAN Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in Japanese, a translator will be present.)
BREAKOUT 2: OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCES – BUILDING TOMORROW’S OPERATING PLATFORM Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in English) |
| 3:10 PM - 3:50 PM |
BREAKOUT 3: REVITALIZING THE ASSET MANAGEMENT SECTOR IN TOKYO Speaker:
(This session will be conducted in Japanese, a translator will be present.)
BREAKOUT 4: ALLOCATING TO THE EFFICIENT FRONTIER – POPULAR DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGIES Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in English) |
| 3:50 PM - 4:30 PM |
BREAKOUT 5: ACORNS OF APAC – EMERGING MANAGER OUTREACH Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in English, a translator will be present.)
BREAKOUT 6: BIG DATA AND AI – IS IT CREATING THE ALPHA? Moderator:
Speakers:
(This session will be conducted in English) |
| 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM | COFFEE AND NETWORKING |
| 5:00 PM - 5:15 PM |
KEYNOTE SPEAKER Tokyo: A Sustainable Global Financial Hub
(This session will be conducted in Japanese, a translator will be present.) |
| 5:15 PM - 5:30 PM |
MARKET PREDICTION AWARDS
|
| 5:30 PM - 5:50 PM |
KEYNOTE AND FIRESIDE CHAT
(This session will be conducted in English, a translator will be present.) |
|
5:50 PM – 6:00 PM |
CLOSING REMARKS
|
|
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM |
EVENING NETWORKING COCKTAIL EVENT |
Venue
The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo
Tokyo Midtown, 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 107-6245
Sponsors
PLATINUM SPONSOR |
|
|
|
|
|
GOLD SPONSORS |
|
|
|
|
SILVER SPONSORS |
|
|
|
|
BRONZE SPONSORS |
|
COCKTAILS SPONSOR |
|
LANYARD SPONSOR |
|
|
|
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION |
|
|
|
Speakers
|
INTRODUCTION
Edward J. Rogers
Chairman, AIMA Japan & Chief Executive Officer/Chief Investment Officer Rogers Investment Advisors
Edward J. Rogers is Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Tokyo-based Rogers Investment Advisors K.K and Chairman of the Japan Branch of the Alternative Investment Management Association Ltd. (AIMA). Rogers Investment Advisors (“RIA”) is a specialist in performing intensive hedge fund due diligence and managing Asian hedge fund strategies. RIA is the founding company of the Wolver Hill group which includes Wolver Hill Asset Management Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong and Wolver Hill Advisors in the United States.
Mr. Rogers has over 25 years of experience in Asia and financial services. Prior to launching Rogers Investment Advisors, Mr. Rogers was a member of Deutsche Bank Tokyo’s Equities Management Committee and Head of Prime Services sales for Japan. Mr. Rogers previously worked as a proprietary trader at Merrill Lynch in London, specializing in yield enhancement and corporate action arbitrage trades and also spent eight years in foreign exchange trading at M. W. Marshall in Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Mr. Rogers’ Asian career began in 1987 when he was awarded a Princeton in Asia Fellowship for Japan and worked for two years at NKK, the then second largest steel company in Japan.
He received a BA in History from Princeton University and an MBA from Georgetown University.
|
|
WELCOME
Jack Inglis
Chief Executive Officer, AIMA
Jack Inglis is the Chief Executive Officer of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), a role he has held since February 2014. He has been in the financial services industry and closely involved with hedge funds for over 30 years. He has held senior management positions at both Morgan Stanley, where he served for 16 years, and Barclays, where he was prior to joining AIMA. From 2007 to 2010 he was CEO of London based hedge fund manager, Ferox Capital Management. He served as a Non-Executive Director of London Capital Group PLC from 2007 to 2010 and currently sits on the board of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIA). He began his career in 1983 at UK stockbrokers James Capel (which was subsequently acquired by HSBC) and has extensive experience in origination, distribution, financing and trading across the fixed income and equity capital markets. He holds a Master of Arts in Economics from Cambridge University.
|
|
GLOBAL REGULATION PANEL – CURRENT HOT TOPICS
Moderator:
James Gaden
Partner, Walkers
James Gaden is a Partner in the Global Corporate and Investment Funds Groups of Walkers' Hong Kong office. He has almost 20 years of experience advising the investment funds industry. He specialises in advising hedge, private equity, and venture capital fund managers on a broad spectrum of legal issues including fund formation and structuring, acquisitions and disposals, disputes, restructuring and fund financing.
In addition, James has an active corporate practice which includes providing legal advice on complex regulatory issues, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. James advises clients from across the region including in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Australia. James is a respected practitioner in the investment funds industry and is a regular speaker at industry events. Speakers:
Christopher P. Wells
Partner, Morgan Lewis
Named one of the most influential people in Asian hedge funds by AsianInvestor magazine, Chris Wells has one of the leading international investment funds and financial regulatory practices in Japan. He focuses on establishing, operating, registering, and licensing investment funds and fund related investment intermediaries in Japan, including banks, securities companies, asset managers, investment trust management companies, and moneylenders. Additionally, Chris advises multinational financial groups on issues related to regulatory compliance and license qualification matters in Japan. He also represents companies in connection with forming and operating numerous multijurisdictional joint ventures and other investments in Japan.
​Chris is ranked as a Band 1 leading individual for foreign investment funds and banking and finance regulatory work by Chambers Asia. He is currently the co-chair of the Alternative Investments Subcommittee of the American Chambers of Commerce in Japan and a co-vice chair of the Executive Committee of the Japan Chapter of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA Japan). He served as the AIMA-Japan Chair from 2010 to 2013. Chris also led the Financial Services Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan from 1998 to 2007, where he coordinated various subcommittees covering the securities, banking and finance, investment management, insurance, private equity, real estate finance, pension and securitization, and ratings industries in Japan. Additionally, Chris was supervising editor of Japan Financial Translations, Inc., and he frequently speaks on investment topics in Japan.
Brian Dillon
Partner, Dillon Eustace
Brian is a specialist adviser to international and Irish clients on asset management and investment funds. His clients include Japanese, Hong Kong, Singaporean, Indian, Australian, MENA, UK and US asset managers. He established and managed the firm's Tokyo representative office and was admitted as a foreign member of the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations. Brian has served on several committees as an active member of Irish Funds and the International Bar Association. He is a registered Foreign Lawyer with the Law Society of Hong Kong.
Yasumasa Tahara
Director, Strategy Development Division, Financial Services Agency
Yasumasa Tahara is the director of the Strategy Development Division, Financial Services Agency. Since July 2018, Mr. Tahara has been in charge of the FSA’s overall strategy as well as financial education, life-time saving and investment promotion, and FinTech. Mr. Tahara started his career at the Ministry of Finance in 1990. Previously, Mr. Tahara was the director of the Corporate Accounting and Disclosure Division, and led Japan’s Corporate Governance reform. Mr. Tahara is a graduate of the Faculty of Law, the University of Tokyo, and received a MBA from Stanford University.
Oliver Stern
General Counsel Asia Pacific, Man Group
Oliver Stern is General Counsel Asia Pacific at Man Group. Based in Hong Kong, Oliver is responsible for the legal team supporting Man’s activities in Asia Pacific including product development and distribution, investment management, regulatory interface and governance. Prior to joining Man in 2004, Oliver trained at Clifford Chance’s London and Paris offices. Oliver is a Solicitor (England and Wales) and holds a LLB (Hons) in Law with European Law from Nottingham University. Oliver is also a CAIA charterholder.
Norm Champ
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Norm Champ is a Partner in the Investment Funds Group in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Previously, Norm was the Director of the Division of Investment Management at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). While at the SEC, Norm played a key role in the SEC’s completion of landmark reforms to strengthen the $3 trillion money market fund industry, and he led important structural and policy changes in the Division of Investment Management. He was a leader of the agency’s work with the Financial Stability Oversight Council as the Council turned its attention to whether asset management firms are “systemically significant.” He also worked on crisis management efforts at securities firms to protect customers of those firms. Norm headed the creation of IM Guidance Updates and the Division of Investment Management’s Senior Level Engagement Initiative, both of which were established to provide transparency to the industry about the priorities and goals of the SEC and to create a dialogue between policymakers and the senior management of asset management firms. Norm has an A.B., summa cum laude, in History from Princeton University and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He was a Fulbright Scholar at King’s College London where he received his M.A. in War Studies. Norm’s book, Going Public, about his experiences at the SEC was released from McGraw-Hill last year.
|
|
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Jesper Koll
CEO, WisdomTree Japan K.K
Jesper Koll has been investing in Japan since becoming a resident in 1986. In July 2015, he was the founding Chief Executive Officer of WisdomTree Japan and now serves as senior adviser to WisdomTree Asset Management. Over the past two decades, Jesper has been consistently ranked as one of the top Japan strategists/economists, having worked as Chief Strategist and Head of Research for major U.S. investment banks J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch. His analysis and insights have earned him a position on several Japanese government and corporate advisory committees. In late-2016, Governor Koike appointed Jesper to her Tokyo Financial Center Advisory Board. He is also one of the few non-Japanese members of the Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives. He has written three books in Japanese, Towards a New Japanese Golden Age, The End of Heisei Deflation, and the recently published Japan's Economy - The Envy of the World.
|
|
CHANGING JAPAN'S CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - IS MOMENTUM BUILDING?
Moderator:
Nick Silver
Managing Director, Head of Equity Division, Credit Suisse Securities Japan
Nick Silver is a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in the Asia Pacific Division, based in Tokyo. He is Head of Equities, Japan and responsible for spearheading the growth of overall Equities franchise, across Sales, Execution, Prime and Research, in Japan. Nick joined Credit Suisse in 2018 from Deutsche Bank, where he was Head of Prime Finance Client Financing and Co-Head of Equity Execution, Asia Pacific. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne. Nick Silver has a deep knowledge of Asia’s equity markets and equity financing in the region, having worked in the region for 18 years. He was instrumental in the build-out of Deutsche Bank's prime finance platform in the region.
Speakers:
Phillip M. Meyer
General Counsel & Chief Operating Officer, Oasis Management Company
Phillip Meyer joined Oasis in 2007 and serves as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Chief Operating Officer for the Oasis Group. He is responsible for providing legal advice to the Oasis Group and managing its legal and regulatory affairs on a global basis, as well as overseeing all operations management for the firm. Mr. Meyer received a B.A. in English from The University of Texas at Austin in 1999, graduating with high honors, and he received a J.D. from Cornell Law School in 2002, where he was Note Editor for the Cornell International Law Journal. Mr. Meyer is a member of the New York State Bar, an Associate Member of the Hong Kong Law Society, a member of the Hong Kong Corporate Counsel Association, and a member of the American Bar Association. Mr. Meyer is a member of the AIMA Hong Kong Executive Committee and serves as co-chair of the AIMA Hong Kong Regulatory Committee, and also serves on the Sohn Hong Kong conference planning committee for the Karen Leung Foundation Ltd. Mr. Meyer was named to The Legal 500’s inaugural “GC Powerlist: China & Hong Kong” in 2017.
Hirofumi Hirano
Member & Chief Executive Officer, KKR Japan
Hirofumi Hirano joined KKR in 2013 and is a Member and Chief Executive Officer of KKR Japan. At KKR, he has been involved with the investments including Panasonic Healthcare, Pioneer DJ, Calsonic Kansei, Hitachi Koki and Hitachi Kokusai Electric. He currently serves on the board of directors of PHC Holdings (former Panasonic Healthcare), Pioneer DJ, Calsonic Kansei and Koki Holdings (former Hitachi Koki). Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Hirano worked at AlixPartners as Japan Representative and Head of Financial Service in Asia. From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Hirano led the principal investment arm of Nikko Cordial Group (now known as SMBC Nikko Securities) and became Chairman of Nikko Principal Investments. Mr. Hirano played a significant role in investments such as Tower Records Japan, Nikko Asset Management, Bell System 24, Seibu Railways and Styling Life Holdings (Sony’s retail business group) where he served as board member for these companies. Mr. Hirano graduated from Keio University and holds an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Yasuyuki Konuma
Director, Senior Executive Officer, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc
Yasuyuki Konuma joined Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in 1984. He has served in the listing, equities, and international business development departments. His experience includes being seconded to the Bank of Tokyo (currently, MUFG Bank, Ltd.). He is charge of developing and improving the listing rules for ETF and other asset backed products and bringing them to the TSE market. He also leads activities to encourage domestic and overseas companies to list in Japan and increase their corporate value in the market. He graduated from Keio University and received an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.
|
|
CURRENT ALLOCATION THOUGHTS – JAPAN INVESTOR PANEL
Moderator:
Daisuke Kobayashi
Senior Consultant, Fiduciary Management Department, Fiduciary Service Research Center, Nomura Securities Co., Ltd.
Daisuke Kobayashi joined NN Life Japan (former ING Life Japan) as sales representative after graduating Keio University in 2007. After few years’ experiences in sales, he engaged to asset management job of insurance policyholders. After spending time in investment fund management, he moved to Nomura in 2015. Now he is in charge of investment consulting of Japanese corporate pension fund and university endowment at fiduciary management department.
Speakers:
Takashi Imai
Head of Planning & Development Team, Investment Advisory Business Dept., SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.
Takashi Imai, head of planning and development team within Investment Advisory Business Dept. at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. Takashi’s role at SMBC Nikko includes sourcing managers and conducting due diligence prior to making investments on behalf of its clients. SMBC Nikko invests into variety of external funds including hedge funds as well as infrastructure & real estate funds.
Takashi has over 20 experiences within alternative investment space. Prior to joining SMBC Nikko, Takashi was at Credit Suisse, BlackRock as well as ITOCHU Corp. Takashi has a Bachelor of Science from Tokyo Institute of Technology and participated in Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School.
Yoshinori Ono
Head of Hedge Fund Investment Group II, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co., Ltd.
Mr. Ono is the head of Hedge Fund Investment Group of Tokio Marine Asset Management Co., Ltd. Prior to joining the firm in 2012, he was leading the hedge fund investment team in Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.. Prior to that, he experienced various asset management positions for Tokio Marine Group, including equity and credit investments, and global macroeconomic analysis. He holds a bachelor of economics from the University of Tokyo.
Yuichi Katayori
Chief Executive Officer, Tokyo University of Science Investment Management Company, Adjunct Associate Professor, Research Institute for Science and Technology at Tokyo University of Science
Yuichi is the Chief Executive Officer at the Tokyo University of Science Investment Management Company. Prior to joining the firm, He worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) and The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company. He has over 15 years of financial markets experience “specializes in Alternative Investment”.
Nobuyuki Inomata
Senior Portfolio Manager, Alternative Investment Group, Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd.
Graduated from Waseda University, BA (Commerce), in March 1992
|
|
PE/BUYOUT – CURRENT STATE OF PLAY
Moderator:
Shinichiro Shiraki
CEO & CIO, Akebono Asset Management Ltd.
Since June 2015, Shinichiro (known commonly as “Shin”) has been the CEO of Akebono Asset Management Ltd. Shin has more than 20 years of investment experience with private equity funds, venture capital funds, and hedge funds, both domestic and global. Shin established Monex Alternative Investments (MAI) in 2004 as an alternative investment management firm in Japan, and acted as both its CEO and CIO. After the acquisition of MAI by Astmax Co., Ltd., Shin was a director and CIO for Astmax Asset Management Limited, a mutual fund house under Astmax Group. Since 2004, Shin has been responsible for the portfolio management of alternative asset fund of funds products.
Prior to this, Shin was in charge of alternative investments at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, to invest and manage hedge funds and private equity funds. In the late 1990s, Shin was in charge of monetizing illiquid assets held by BTMU for balance sheet reduction. Shin was one of the founding members of Japan’s chapter of the Alternative Investment Managers Association (AIMA Japan), established in 2001. He has taken on key roles as an executive committee member of AIMA Japan. Currently, Shin serves as the vice chairman of its executive committee. Shin received his BA in Economics from Keio University and an MSc in Finance from London Business School. He is a chartered Member of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan.
Speakers:
Ryuzo Maeno
Senior Managing Director, Endeavour United
Mr. Maeno joined our group in 2008 and is a member of the board since 2012. Past deals worked include Sato Kensetsu Kogyo, Asahi Synchrotech, Fuji Technica Miyazu, TEAC, Seiki Tokyu and Gold Pack.
Prior to joining the group, Mr. Maeno worked at MUFG Bank, Ltd. He has various experiences in commercial banking business, investment banking business in the United States, business planning in the Investment banking department and structured finance. Mr. Maeno received an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester and a B.E. from Waseda University.
Koji Sasaki
President and Managing Partner, Tokio Marine Capital Co., Ltd.
Koji is President and Managing Partner at Tokio Marine Capital (TMCap). He joined the firm on December 1998. Koji has devoted himself to found and develop buyout investment team in TMCap while building up many successful track records during the past 20 years. He has a background in banking legal expertise, M&A advisory and corporate finance in Hong Kong at The Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan (now Shinsei Bank). He earned B.A. degree in law from Kyushu University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Soichi Sam Takata
Head of Private Equity, Tokio Marine Asset Managemet Co., Ltd.
Mr. Takata has been with Tokio Marine Asset Management Co., Ltd. (“TMAM”) since the creation of the Private Equity Department in December 2002. Prior to that, Mr. Takata was at Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (“Tokio Marine”) working in their alternative investment group from 1997 to 1998, and again from 2001 onwards, managing a global portfolio of private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure funds, emerging country funds, CDO/CLO’s and other alternative assets.
In between, Mr. Takata spent three years at Tokio Marine Capital Co., Ltd., Tokio Marine’s private equity investment arm, working on management buyout and development capital transactions in Japan. During this period, he also spent time at private equity houses in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Takata spent over two years on secondment to The Export-Import Bank of Japan (now, Japan Bank for International Cooperation) working on large scale project finance transactions around the world. Mr. Takata began his career at the International Investment Department of Tokio Marine overseeing a global portfolio of managed assets. Mr. Takata has a B.A. in Economics from Harvard College.
|
|
WHERE TO NOW? – CRYPTO AND DIGITAL ASSETS UPDATE
Moderator:
Jehan Chu
Co-founder & Managing Partner, Kenetic Capital
Jehan Chu is co-Founder and Managing Partner at Kenetic, an institutional investment and advisory platform for blockchain and cryptocurrency. A former front-end developer, he started investing in cryptocurrency in 2013. Jehan founded the Ethereum HK community (2014), co-Founded the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong (2014) and founded the Hyperledger HK community (2016).
Jehan serves as co-Chairman of the Hong Kong Fintech Association Blockchain Committee, is a Fellow of the Singapore University of Social Science and member of the Global Patrons Board of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and Master’s degree from HKU.
Speakers:
Thomas Glucksmann
Head of Data Management Solutions, Diginex
Thomas is Head of Data Management Solutions at Diginex, a digital financial services and blockchain solutions company. Previously, he was Head of Marketing & APAC Business Development at Gatecoin, a digital asset exchange based in Hong Kong. Prior to this he worked in business and product development at Mt.Gox in Tokyo, another major digital asset exchange. He has also been a consultant to various FinTech and digital asset start-ups in the APAC region. He holds a BA in East Asian Studies from The University of Hong Kong.
Gerrit van Wingerden
Co-Founder & CTO, Caspian Tech
Gerrit van Wingerden is the CTO and co-founder of Caspian, an institutional grade crypto trading platform for hedge funds and sophisticated investors. Gerrit has served as the Representative Director for Tora Trading Services K.K. for the past 12 years. Prior to that Gerrit managed the development of high volume trading applications and analytical tools for various hedge funds and bulge bracket investment banks. Gerrit holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University.
Matthew G. Stover, CPA
Founder & CEO of MG Stover & Co
Matt is the Founder & CEO of MG Stover & Co., a full-service fund accounting & administration firm built by former auditors and fund operators to deliver world class solutions to the alternative investment industry. MG Stover supports a wide range clients which includes: hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, family offices and broker-dealers. MG Stover is the largest fund administration firm for cryptocurrency funds. Matt started his career in public accounting with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a FINRA Series 27 license. Matt is also a member of the American Institute of CPAs and a Director for Help For Children | Hedge Funds Care.
Makoto Sonoda
Director for International Capital Market Regulation, Director for International Accounting, Member of G20 Office, Financial Services Agency, Government of Japan
Mr. Sonoda has an extensive background in financial regulation and economic policies through various positions at the Financial Services Agency (FSA) and Ministry of Finance (MOF), Government of Japan. Since his appointment to the current position in July 2018, he is responsible for all international capital market regulation and international accounting, auditing and disclosure issues at the FSA and participated in many international conferences on behalf of the government, including Crypto Asset issues. Mr. Sonoda is responsible for G20 2019 under Japanese presidency, especially financial innovation and market fragmentation fields.
Before his appointment to the current position, Mr. Sonoda had worked 4 years in New York as Deputy Chief Representative of the MOF, and watched US financial markets and regulations. Mr. Sonoda studied at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Columbia University in the City of New York.
|
|
EXAMINING THE TOKYO FINANCIAL INITIATIVES
Keisuke Yamashita
Representative Director, Head of Investor Relations, Japan, Dymon Asia Capital Japan
Mr. Yamashita started his finance career in the Investment Banking Department (M&A) in J.P. Morgan Japan and United Kingdom. He joined Dymon Asia Capital in 2017 and moved to Dymon Asia Capital Japan in April 2019. He graduated from Wesleyan University (Phi Beta Kappa) with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics & Economics under the Freeman Asian Scholarship.
Masaya Hara
Managing Director, Albourne Partners
Mr. Hara began his career in finance with Nikko Securities. He joined Albourne Partners in 2007 as a Managing Director after working for various financial institutions. He holds a BA from Waseda University.
Jiro Shimpo
President & CEO, Tasku Advisors
Jiro Shimpo founded Tasku Advisors, an investment and advisory firm, in 2018 with 4 other people. Prior to that, he spent 7 years at Russell Investment and started Alternative Investment Advisory Department in Tokyo office that grew from himself to 7 people with notable advisory mandates from prominent corporate and public pensions and $1 billion AUM. Before joining Russell, he had 23 years of buy-side investment experience at a trust bank and a life insurance company.
|
|
KEYNOTE AND FIRESIDE CHAT
Hiroshi Nakaso
Chairman of Daiwa Institute of Research, Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan
Hiroshi Nakaso was appointed chairman of the Daiwa Institute of Research (DIR) in July 2018 after completing his term as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan. He served as the Deputy Governor of the BOJ since March 2013. In his 39 years at the Bank, his main responsibilities have been crisis management of financial systems and markets focusing on global systems.
Mr. Nakaso joined the Bank of Japan in 1978 and he was assigned to the London Representative Office from 1987 until 1989. He dealt with the homegrown financial crisis of the 1990s. He headed the exit operation from the Quantitative Easing Policy, a prototypical unconventional policy that lasted from 2001 to 2006. In addition, he played an instrumental role in addressing the Global Financial Crisis together with his peers at major central banks including the FRB. He has participated in numerous international meetings, and during his terms as Director-General of the Financial Markets Department and Assistant Governor, he chaired the BIS Markets Committee and Working Group on Financial Reference Rates, as well as the G20 Study Group on Commodities.
Nakaso is expected to be appointed as head of the new organization to promote “Global Financial City, Tokyo” to be established in 2019.
Douglas Hymas
Country Executive, Managing Director, The Bank of New York Mellon
Doug Hymas is Japan Country Executive for The Bank of New York Mellon in Japan. He serves as manager of the bank’s Tokyo branch, as representative director/chairman of the securities company, and as director of the trust bank and the investment management company.
A California-licensed attorney, Mr. Hymas has worked in Japan since 1991 and in Japan’s financial services industry since 1995, when he joined Lehman Brothers as a trading floor legal specialist. From 1998 he established the Legal/Compliance/Risk Management departments at Barclays Global Investors (BGI), and later led the iShares project that introduced ETFs to Japan (now part of BlackRock).
From 2001, Mr. Hymas joined Citigroup Asset Management as General Counsel, and later became head of Product Development and then Offshore Fund Sales. From mid-2005 when the business was acquired by Legg Mason Global Asset Management, Mr. Hymas established and served as president of Legg Mason Securities (Japan) Co., Ltd., and later established and served as president of Wells Fargo Securities (Japan). From April 2009 until accepting his current role at BNY Mellon in August of 2014 Mr. Hymas served as CEO & Representative Director/President of ING Investment Management in Japan.
Since 2001, Mr. Hymas has been active in advocacy efforts to reform and internationalize Japan’s financial regulatory framework and currently serves on the board of governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), having previously chaired the ACCJ’s Investment Management Committee (2005-2008, 2014-2018), and Securities Committee (2008-2009). He also serves on the board of governors for the Japan Chapter of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA)(March 2018-present), and served as Chairman of the Asset Management Committee of the European Business Council / European Chambers of Commerce in Japan (2009-2014).
Mr. Hymas was elected Vice Chair of the 30% Club Japan’s inaugural board and serves as Chair of the Investor Group. He is also serves as Treasurer of the Far East Council of the Boy Scouts of America and as an adjunct professor at the Japan campus of Temple University’s law school.
|
|
BREAKOUT 1: INSIDE THE MIND OF A VENTURE CAPITALIST – LATEST VC TRENDS IN JAPAN
Moderator:
Shinichiro Shiraki
CEO & CIO, Akebono Asset Management Ltd.
See PE/Buyout panel
Speakers:
Allen Miner
Founder / Chairman and CEO, SunBridge group
Allen Miner, Founder and CEO of SunBridge, is one of Japan’s leading venture capitalists and angel investors with significant experience in internet, enterprise software, entrepreneurship and international business development. He and his firm were early backers of many innovative Japanese startups including Macromill, ITMedia and G-Mode and have been instrumental in the Japan market success of Salesforce.com, Concur, Marketo, Demandware and others.
Upon his graduation from Brigham Young University, Mr. Miner joined Oracle Corporation in 1986, where he subsequently founded and helped lead Oracle Japan. In 1999, he founded SunBridge and established the Venture Habitat in Tokyo (2000), Palo Alto (2008) and Osaka (2010) to support the startup ecosystem in Japan and to connect it with the Silicon Valley. Allen Miner has been recognized by Forbes and Always On as one of the world’s 100 top technology investors.
Yusuke Murata
General Partner, Incubate Fund
In 1999, he founded SaaS startup (towards financial institutions). After exited, he joined the NIF Ventures (now Daiwa Corporate Investment) in 2003, and mainly dealt with investment for internet-related startups and fund management. In 2010, founded Incubate Fund as one of co-founder and general partner, and works on investment and incubation in media, gaming, digital health, and frontier-tech areas. He won #1 prize of Forbes JAPAN’s MIDAS LIST 2017. Since 2015, he is on the Japan Venture Capital Association (JVCA) as General Manager of planning department and Chairperson of Fund Eco-System Committee and Director of LP Relationship department.
Jun Okamoto
Partner, KPMG FAS Co., Ltd.
Jun has experienced over 100 cases of corporate strategy projects such as Enterprise-wide transformation, New business development and Corporate Venture Capital. Jun currently belong to KPMG Global Strategy Group.
|
|
BREAKOUT 2: OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCES – BUILDING TOMORROW’S OPERATING PLATFORM
Moderator:
Halley Caldwell
Vice President, Prime Brokerage Business Consulting Services Asia, Morgan Stanley
Halley Caldwell is a Vice President of Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Equities Division based in Hong Kong. She is a member of the Prime Brokerage Business Consulting Services team where she is responsible for supporting hedge fund clients across Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. Halley joined Morgan Stanley in September 2016 and has over ten years of industry experience in Asia. She was previously the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Sylebra HK Company Limited from 2011 through 2015. Before helping launch Sylebra, Halley worked at Coatue Management in New York and Shanghai from 2010 through 2011. She started her career as a Foreign Manager focusing on human resources with Aston Education Group in Shandong, China. Halley has a Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College.
Speakers:
R.G. Manalac
Managing Director, Asia Pacific, SS&C / EZE
R.G. serves as Managing Director in Asia Pacific and is responsible for all new sales, business development, and client service in the region. He joined the company in 2003 as a consultant based in San Francisco and was promoted to Director of Consulting for the Western U.S. in 2005. He relocated to Hong Kong in 2008 to launch Eze Software’s first Asia Pacific location and since then has overseen the opening of offices in Sydney and Singapore. Under his leadership, Eze Software’s Asia-Pacific presence has grown from one locally-based client to 175, and the sales and support staff has expanded from two employees to 53.
Before joining the company, R.G. was a trader for a hedge fund. R.G. graduated from Pomona College, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and passed his CFA Level 3 exams in 2011.
Ingo Wende
COO, Voltex Asia Capital Limited
Ingo Wende is Chief Operating Officer of Voltex Asia Capital Ltd, a Hong Kong-based cross asset class volatility investment manager, in which capacity he manages all business aspects of the firm.
Mr Wende brings more than 15 years of experience in asset management and proprietary trading working in Hong Kong, Japan and Europe. Prior to joining Voltex Mr Wende worked at Nomura/Lehman Brothers as part of the Global Opportunities Group, first as a volatility trader in Tokyo and then as the CAO for the group when it was rebranded and relaunched in Hong Kong as Nomura Principal Investments Asia Ltd. When that business was spun off he became a member of Nomura’s Prime Services Origination team where he was responsible for business consulting to hedge fund clients and new fund launches.
Earlier in his career he held a variety of roles at Shinsei Bank, WestLB, Sal. Oppenheim and Accenture. Mr Wende holds a Law degree from the Humboldt University in Germany and is a Responsible Officer licensed under the SFO of Hong Kong.
Philippa Allen
CEO and Founder, ComplianceAsia
Philippa Allen, CEO and Founder of ComplianceAsia, and has over 30 years’ extensive business and regulation experience in Asia. Prior to co-founding ComplianceAsia, Philippa was the Head of Compliance, APAC for Dresdner Bank and GT Asset Management (LGT Asset Management). She was one of the drafters of the Fund Manager Code of Conduct in Hong Kong and has been involved in a number of submission to regulators and lobbying efforts with financial industry bodies.
She graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Jurisprudence and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. Upon graduation, she commenced practice as a barrister and solicitor for Freehill Hollingdale and Page, in Perth, Western Australia. Philippa is a frequent speaker at financial industry conferences and technical panels, and a member of various industry representative bodies.
|
|
BREAKOUT 3: REVITALIZING THE ASSET MANAGEMENT SECTOR IN TOKYO
Takahiro Tajiri
Senior Director, Strategic Projects Office, Strategic Policy and ICT Promotion, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Takahiro Tajiri is Senior Director for Strategic Projects at Office for Strategic Policy and ICT Promotion since 2016. Before joining the TMG, he had a long career in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). He entered the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI, now METI) back in 1994, and he served as Director of Global Environmental Affairs Office, Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau from 2013 to 2016. Mr. Tajiri also worked as Economic Counselor at the Embassy of Japan in the United States from 2010 to 2013.
|
|
BREAKOUT 4: ALLOCATING TO THE EFFICIENT FRONTIER – POPULAR DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGIES
Moderator:
Edward J. Rogers
Chairman, AIMA Japan & Chief Executive Officer/Chief Investment Officer Rogers Investment Advisors
See Introduction
Speakers:
Michinori Kanokogi
Portfolio Manager, AQR International Ltd.
Michinori Kanokogi is the head of investment department within AQR’s Japan office. Prior to AQR, Michinori was a senior client portfolio manager with Russell Investments Japan, specializing in evaluation of external asset managers and portfolio construction of multi-manager, multi-asset portfolio. He also worked at UBS Global Asset Management as equity portfolio manager, as well as for PwC and Deloitte as management consultant. Michinori earned his MBA from INSEAD, his Master of Engineering in applied systems science from Kyoto University and his Bachelor of Engineering in mathematical engineering and information physics from the University of Tokyo. Michinori is a CFA charterholder.
Etienne Gorgeon
Head of Liquid Strategies, Tikehau Capital
Etienne Gorgeon is Head of liquid strategies. He joined the Group in 2012. Previously, he worked at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management since 2008 where he held the position of CIO of fixed income management. He began his career in 1997 as a high yield credit analyst at CDC IXIS. He then joined F&C in London as an investment grade and high yield portfolio manager. From 2002 to 2005, Etienne Gorgeon was in charge of the absolute return and investment grade range at AXA IM. He was then appointed CIO of Global Investment Grade Credit at Fortis, a position he held until 2008. Education: Skema Business School.
Jean Olivier Caron
Executive Director, Business Development, FORT LP
JEAN OLIVIER CARON joined FORT in 2016 and is a member of the Business Development & Investor Relations department. Prior to joining FORT, Mr. Caron was Sales Director at Citigroup Japan leading a team of financial engineers and sales to address both the institutional and retail equity derivatives markets.
Prior to Citi, Mr. Caron was Sales Director at BNP Paribas both in Tokyo and New York where he focused on institutional relationships. During a span of 6 years, as part of the equity derivatives sales team, he was responsible for promoting and developing a product offering tailored to institutional investors in Asia and North America. Mr. Caron started his career in finance at Citigroup Japan in 2006 working in fixed income risk management and international syndication.
Mr. Caron graduated from the University of Tokyo with a Master’s degree in Applied Sciences and holds an Electrical Engineering Diploma from Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal.
|
|
BREAKOUT 5: ACORNS OF APAC – EMERGING MANAGER OUTREACH
Moderator:
Alex Howarth
Executive Director, Capital & Consulting Group, JP Morgan
Alex Howarth is an Executive Director for the Hedge Fund Consulting team for J.P. Morgan. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2016, he was a lawyer by training and practiced derivatives and structured finance with Allen & Overy in London for a number of years. In 2009 Alex moved away from law and into Deutsche Bank’s Prime Brokerage business, firstly in London before moving to Hong Kong in 2012.
Speakers:
Rory Kennedy
Chief Operating Officer, MuTaka Capital KK
Mr. Kennedy is Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of MuTaka Capital KK based in Tokyo. Mr Kennedy oversees the business functions of MuTaka Capital including operations, legal, finance, human resources and technology. He is also a member of the firm's risk and valuation committees. From September 2009 until December 2018, Mr. Kennedy was the COO at Rogers Investment Advisors KK, an Asian focused investment and advisory platform. From January 2006 until August 2009, he was the COO for United Managers Japan Inc (UMJ), a multi-manager hedge fund platform. Prior to joining UMJ, Mr. Kennedy worked for Deutsche Bank for almost 9 years in the Operations Division of its Tokyo and London offices. His financial product experience encompasses equities, equity derivatives, futures & options, OTC swaps and fixed income / repo as well as a variety of alternative investment products including hedge funds and private equity with a specialization in operational due diligence.
Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of Dublin City University with a B.A. in International Marketing & Languages and also holds a post graduate diploma in Information Technology from Dublin City University. Mr. Kennedy holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (“CAIA") designation and is a founding committee member of the Japan CAIA chapter.
Kirby Daley
Chief Risk Officer/Macro Strategist, Ebisu Capital Inc.
Before joining Ebisu Capital, Kirby was Head of Manager Research at Stable Asset Management, responsible for US manager origination and due diligence. Prior to Stable he was Managing Partner/Chief Strategist at Cape Poge Capital, a global macro fund co-founded with the former Global Head of FX Trading and Global Macro Prop Trading at Goldman Sachs. From 2011-2015 he was Global Strategist/co-Chief Investment Officer at Northview Investment Advisors, Ltd., overseeing liquid investments, hedge fund allocations, FX trading/hedging and macro strategy. From 2001-2011, Kirby was with Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking in Tokyo and Hong Kong, serving as Senior Strategist. He holds a B.A. in Political Science (Economics Emphasis) from the University of Minnesota.
Joe (Yosuke) Kimura
Chief Operating Officer, BUSHIDO Asset Management Co., Ltd.
Joe (Yosuke) Kimura is the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at BUSHIDO Asset Management, and he has nineteen years of experience in financial markets. Prior to BUSHIDO, Joe was with Nomura Prime Finance Group for seven and half years, with responsibilities of Head of the Japan team as well as the PB Origination Sales, and has supported many established/start-up hedge fund managers in the region. Before joining the Prime Finance group, Joe had worked at Nomura NY office as a Japanese Equity Sales for five years, mainly serving US-based hedge funds, after graduating MBA at Georgetown University.
Masa Hashimoto
Chief Executive Officer, Red Phoenix Investments Co., Ltd.
Masa Hashimoto began his finance career in 1998 when he joined Merrill Lynch Japan, before moving to the Global Arbitrage desk at Bank of America Securities Japan in 2001. Prior to establishing Red Phoenix, Masa spent 12 years as a founding member and Managing Partner of a proprietary trading firm located in the US.
He created Red Phoenix Investments Co., Ltd in 2017, and entered into a partnership with Tokyo University of Science IM Co. in 2018. The firm utilizes cutting-edge quantitative methods to generate stable and consistent risk-adjusted absolute returns. The relationship with the Tokyo University of Science allows Red Phoenix to pursue its interest in ESG principles, fulfilling its commitment to help educate and nurture the next generation of business and finance professionals in Japan.
|
|
BREAKOUT 6: BIG DATA AND AI – IS IT CREATING THE ALPHA?
Moderator:
Manoj Nihalani
APAC Head of Financing Advisory, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Manoj provides business consulting and capital raising support to BofAML’s hedge fund clients. He advises clients on all aspects of building and evolving their business, investor engagement, and keeping updated with new market developments. Prior to his current role, Manoj worked as in-house legal counsel with a number of global investment banks, including as senior counsel for prime brokerage and equity derivatives at BofAML.
Speakers:
Masashi Tsujinaka
Chief Executive Officer, Nowcast Inc.
Experience in statistics and economic research at Research Statistics Bureau, Shimonoseki Branch and Planning Bureau in Bank of Japan. Promoted business development as the senior analyst and sales manager at Nowcast from September 2015, and holds the current position from February 2019.
Daisuke Asahara
Chief Financial Officer, HEROZ, Inc.
He joined HEROZ, Inc. as CFO in 2013. Prior to HEROZ, he worked for Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs. He received an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Master’s and Bachelor’s Degree from Kyoto University.
Avijit Choudhury
Executive Director, Head of Capital & Consulting Services APAC, UBS AG
Avijit Choudhury is the APAC Head of Capital Consulting having been with UBS in Hong Kong since 2010. Avijit manages a team working with new launch and existing managers, across Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, advising on topics to support both the Capital Raising & Institutional Business Building process.
Prior to joining UBS, Avijit served in a number of different roles at Bloomberg AIM, Charles River Development and SS&C with responsibility for Hedge Fund, Institutional Asset Management, and Private Banking clients in Europe and Asia. Avijit has an Executive MBA from Cass Business School, London and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from The University of Liverpool.
Yoko Fukaya
Head of Client Solutions, System2 LLC
Yoko Fukaya is Head of Client Solutions at System2, an alternative data analytics consultancy. In this role she is responsible for setting the strategy of consulting services and driving the business development agenda across System2’s alternative data and service offerings. Yoko joined System2 in 2018. Previously, she worked for Metacapital, a New York based hedge fund manager, with focus on business development in Asia. She has more than 20 years of experience in the banking and financial industry at S.G. Warburg in London, American International Group, Bank of America, Asian Development Bank and Daiwa Research.
Yoko holds a Master of Business Administration from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from International Christian University in Tokyo.
Yuki Sako
Associate, K&L Gates LLP
Yuki Sako is an associate at K&L Gates’ New York and Tokyo offices. She advises global banking institutions, asset managers and payment services on a number of Japanese financial services regulatory and compliance issues. She counsels clients on offering and structuring various investment products and services, including digitization of services, data use and privacy, and represents clients before Japanese regulatory agencies.
Yuki also advises banks and bank-affiliated financial institutions on U.S. financial services regulations including issues under the federal banking laws involving various deposit and investment products and services such as sweep programs and advisory services.
|
|
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Yuriko Koike
Governor of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
|
|
KEYNOTE AND FIRESIDE CHAT William F. “Bill” Hagerty IV
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Ambassador Hagerty was nominated by President Trump on March 27, 2017 and sworn in as the 30th Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan on July 27, 2017.
Prior to his nomination, Mr. Hagerty served as Director of Presidential Appointments for the 2016 Trump Presidential Transition Team while on a leave of absence from Hagerty Peterson & Company, a private equity investment firm of which he was a founder and Managing Director. When he assumed his official role, Mr. Hagerty resigned from the boards of three publicly-traded companies as well as from his role as co-founder of the committee that is bidding to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Nashville. Mr. Hagerty began his professional career at global management consultancy Boston Consulting Group, including three years in Tokyo, Japan. He subsequently served as CEO and board member of companies with extensive operations in Asia and Europe.
In addition to his private sector experience, Mr. Hagerty has been a public servant at both the federal and state levels. As a member of President George H.W. Bush’s staff, he served on the President’s Council on Competitiveness with a portfolio that included international trade. From 2011-2015, Mr. Hagerty was a member of the Governor’s Cabinet and Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development for the State of Tennessee. He was also responsible for the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission and helped bring the television series, “Nashville” to his home state.
Mr. Hagerty graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1981. In 1984, he received a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of the Law Review and a Wilson Scholar. He has worked extensively on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America, including as Chairman of the Executive Board of the National Capital Council and Board member of the Far East Council when he lived in Japan previously. He presently serves as honorary President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and as honorary President of the Tokyo American Club. He is married to Chrissy Hagerty, and they have four children.
|
Registration & Ticket Price
Registration closes 17 May 2019, Friday, 12PM. If you have any registration requests after registration closes please contact Kanako Someya.
AIMA Member:
1 Complimentary registration per membership** and then ¥10,000 for each additional registration
Non-AIMA Member:
¥40,000
* Registration fees quoted above exclude tax
** Each AIMA Membership globally (not office/location) is entitled to ONE Complimentary Ticket