What's brewing in Japan?
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13 Apr 2007
Japan needs activists, said Japanese hedge fund
manager Peter Tasker of Arcus Investment in a
research note this week. The recent improvement in
Japanese return on equity has been driven by the rise
in profit margins, mostly caused by holding down
personnel costs. To drive return on equity higher,
Japan needs de-equitisation and the stimulus provided
by activist shareholders. De-equitisation – via activism,
private equity buy-outs and M&A – is crucial if the
Japanese stock market is to put the trauma of the lost
decade behind it and fulfill its potential.
11 Apr 2007
A Financial Services Agency survey issued this week
revealed that hedge fund investments by wealthy
Japanese more than doubled in the year to last March.
The report also showed a 41% increase in all hedge
fund sales in Japan by financial institutions.
9 Apr 2007
Yukinori Machida, formerly of Japan’s Ministry of
Finance, has joined law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw
Pittman to head up its hedge fund practice in Tokyo.
5 Apr 2007
Noboru Terada, formerly executive investment officer of
the Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan,
has joined MSCI Barra as a senior advisor.
4 Apr 2007
According to industry sources, Tokyo-based Panache
Asset Management is about to launch a Japanese
equity long/short hedge fund later this month with seed
money from a major international bank.
3 Apr 2007
Hitoshi Kudo has left his job as Deputy Head of the AIG
Global Investment Group in Japan.
2 Apr 2007
Hiroshi Miyamoto has left his job as a long-only fund
manger at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management to set up
a new Japanese hedge fund.
31 Mar 2007
Atsko Nakajima has resigned from her job as Director
of Hedge Fund Investments and Chief Portfolio
Manager of the Investment Group at Tokyo-based GCI
Asset Management.
Kosuke Ikeda is leaving his job at asset manager DKR
Capital.
29 Mar 2007
Eurekahedge reports that hedge fund assets under
management in Asia grew by 30%, to an estimated
US$132 billion, in 2006. Japan-focused hedge funds
account for 26% of all funds while Asia including Japan
accounts for an additional 18%.
27 Mar 2007
Nick Linnane, who left Citigroup Alternative Investments
Japan in December 2006, has joined the investment
team of Cube Capital in London. Cube manages over
$1 billion in hedge funds and other alternative
investments. Its portfolio includes an Asian fund of
hedge funds.
23 Mar 2007
London Diversified Fund Management, a London-
based hedge fund with US$4.4 billion in AUM is
opening an office in Singapore to expand its Asian
trading capability under management. The new Asian
office will trade fixed income products, derivatives and
FX. LDFM expects to be trading a range of markets in
Asia including Japan.
22 Mar 2007
Japan’s Financial Services Agency says hedge fund
investments in the country rose 22% over a year ago,
while Japanese financial institutions markets held 40%
more hedge funds than in 2005.
21 Mar 2007
Tokyo-based Bluebear Investment Managers Company
Ltd has launched the Quants Japan Equity Fund and
the Bluebear Long Short Japan Fund. Bluebear was
founded at the end of 2006 by Shintaro Tomita (ex-
Goldman Sachs and HSBC) and Toshiyuki Matsushita
(ex-Sparx, Nissay and Dai-ichi Kangyo).
19 Mar 2007
According to Nikkei Shimbun, The Children's
Investment Fund (TCI), a London-based hedge fund,
has bought at least a 1% stake in Chubu Electric
Power Co and asked the utility for higher dividends and
share buy-backs, pushing Chubu shares up more than
3%. TCI has already pressured Japanese electricity
wholesaler Electric Power Development (J-Power) to
triple its dividend.
16 Mar 2007
CQS is launching the CQS Asia Fund which will focus
on convertible bond and equity strategies, investing
across Asia including Japan. The fund will be headed
by Jean-Christophe Blanc who will work with a team of
11 investment professionals in London and Hong
Kong.
According to Asianinvestor.net, several large Japanese
asset managers are now considering launching
130/30 long/short equity strategies as a response to
the ever increasing investments in hedge fund
strategies from Japanese investors. 130/30 strategies
combines a 130% long position and a 30% short
position, with the proceeds from the short helping to
pay for the additional long exposure.
12 Mar 2007
Mizuho Corporate Bank is reported to be setting up an
asset management firm in New York in April. The new
company has plans to expand into hedge fund
investments in the not too distant future.
The Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index returned
an estimated +0.99% in February which brings the year-
to-date return to +2.23%.
8 Mar 2007
Japan-focused FreeSpirit Capital Management, based
in Sydney, closed two funds at the end of February: a
Japan equity long/short fund and the long-only Japan
Opportunity Fund. Following a tough 2006, the funds
saw redemptions accounting for most of the assets.
Both funds were managed by Ian MacDonald and Tim
Orchard.
Somer Hatano, formerly of Morgan Stanley Japan, has
set up Alpha Dialogue Advisors, a New York-based
consulting firm for the alternative investment industry
and with a specific focus on Japan.
3 Mar 2007
Over the last few months several Tokyo-based hedge
funds are believed to have shut down, including Amida
Capital and Hachibushu Capital. However, during the
same period several new Japan-focused hedge funds
have also launched, so it is not one-way traffic.
1 Mar 2007
New tougher rules relating to marketing hedge funds to
retail investors in Japan will come into effect next
summer.
26 Feb 2007
ING Investment Management has this month launched
an Asian-focused fund of hedge funds. The ING Asia
Pacific Managers Segregated Portfolio Fund will invest
in Asian hedge fund managers, including Japanese
managers.
The Japanese government is to embark on a
substantial programme to revitalise Tokyo as an
international financial centre and attract more foreign
financial institutions, including private equity and hedge
funds. All according to a Financial Times interview with
Yuji Yamamoto, Japan’s financial services minister.
Fimat, the prime brokerage division of Societe
Generale, is rumoured to be in talks to acquire
Himawari CX, Japan's largest commodities futures
broker.
24 Feb 2007
This week Kazumasa Iwata, deputy governor of Bank of
Japan, became the first deputy since the bank became
independent to defy the governor.
23 Feb 2007
Ichigo Asset Management, a Japan-focused hedge
fund manager led by Scott Callon, made Japanese
corporate history when it was part of a Tokyo Kohtetsu
shareholder group that successfully stopped a merger
that had been approved by the company's board.
17 Feb 2007
Nick Ricciardi, formerly of Goldman Sachs Japan, has
formed Citta Capital Management, which this month
launched the Citta Fund, a Japanese equity long/short
fund.
David Hatt, a former chief executive of Nikko Citigroup,
will join Deutsche Securities as president of its
Japanese brokerage unit.
Hedge fund manager Dalton Investments has
reportedly successfully completed the first ever
management buyout of a healthy company when it
acquired SunTelephone for US$325 million.
16 Feb 2007
Activist hedge fund manager Steel Partners has
launched a hostile takeover bid for Sapporo, one of
Japan’s leading breweries. Apart from all the lovely
beer, Sapporo also has a rather tasty real estate
portfolio in Japan, including Yebisu Garden Place,
home to Morgan Stanley Japan. Steel Partners already
has a portfolio of more than 30 Japanese companies.
14 Feb 2007
Kenzo Kuroda, who left Steel Partners Japan in June
2006, has reportedly launched an activist fund focused
on Japan. The Fugen Capital Japan Fund was
launched in November 2006 and has just opened to
external investors.
Japanese broker giant Nomura made a rather tidy
US$819 million profit on its investment in Fortress
Investment Group. Nomura took a 15% stake in the US
hedge fund manager and has nearly doubled its
money in less than a month. Their original US$888m
stake is now worth around US$1.7 billion.
12 Feb 2007
Following a disappointing yearly return of -3.88% in
2006, the Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index was
up an estimated
+0.87% in January.
9 Feb 2007
Tokyo-based SBI Asset Management has announced it
will launch the SBI Absolute Return Fund. The new SBI
fund will invest in the Geronimo Multi-Strategy Offshore
Fund and the Geronimo Sector Opportunity Offshore
Fund.
7 Feb 2007
Japan’s former Vice Finance Minister, Dr Eisuke
Sakakibara, affectionately known as Mr. Yen, has been
confirmed as a keynote speaker at the Hedge Fund
Investments Japan IQ 2007 conference in Tokyo in
June.
RAB Capital reportedly is about to shut down its
Japanese hedge fund because of poor performance.
2 Feb 2007
The Tokyo Stock Exchange has agreed to form a
strategic alliance with the New York Stock Exchange.
The two exchanges will cooperate on joint listings,
trading technology and marketing. The TSE has also
said it may form similar alliances with other
exchanges, possibly including CME and LSE.
1 Feb 2007
Aozora Bank, one of the leading Japanese commercial
banks, reported its financial results for the nine months
to 31 December 2006. Net income was at a record high
for the three quarters with gains on the bank’s hedge
fund investments being one of the profit drivers, the
bank said in a press release this week.
Sparx, the Tokyo-based alternative investment group
founded by Shuhei Abe, has announced it has opened
an office in Sydney to further expand in the Asian-Pacific
region.
29 Jan 2007
AIMA Japan has today elected a new executive
committee at its annual general meeting. AIMA Japan
is now managed by the following executive board
members: Hideki Hashiguchi (HSBC), Shinichiro
Shiraki (Monex Alternative Investments), Ed Rogers
(Rogers Investment Advisors), Sadayuki Horie
(Nomura Research Institute), Chris Wells (White &
Case), Peter Itoh (Japan Venture Partners), Brad
Resnik (Deutsche), Andrew Hill (Nikko Citigroup) and
Stefan Nilsson (Bear Stearns). In addition, Stan
Howard (Teneo Partners) and Akira Adachi (Fortis) will
remain as board directors while former AIMA chairman
Ted Uemae (Alternative Investment Products) will now
represent Japan on the board of AIMA in London.
25 Jan 2007
Oria Capital, the Asian fund of hedge funds based in
Hong Kong, has been acquired by Swiss banking
group SYZ & Co. Oria Capital, headed by Jennifer
Carver, will be rebranded as 3A Asia and will be
responsible for SYZ’s investments in Asian hedge
funds including Japanese managers.
An emerging hedge fund manager survey conducted by
VanthedgePoint has revealed that 34.4% of
respondents think Japan will be the top performing
equity market in 2007.
23 Jan 2007
Ted Uemae is retiring as chairman of the Alternative
Investment Management Association Japan after five
years. The new chairman and board of directors will be
elected at AIMA Japan’s annual general meeting on
29th January.
19 Jan 2007
Bank of Japan's inaction on interest rates keeps the
yen carry trade alive for the time being. The BoJ left its
benchmark interest rate at 0.25% this week.
18 Jan 2007
AIMA Japan will hold its annual general meeting in
Tokyo on Monday 29 January. It will also host a half-day
hedge fund seminar the same day.
Lyxor Asset Management is about to list an Exchange
Traded Fund (ETF) based on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange Price Index on the SWX Swiss Exchange.
The new Japan ETF gives investors instant exposure to
the Japanese market.
The Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index finished
2006 down 3.43% after a gain of 1.91% in December.
Thames River Capital’s Japan equity long/short fund
has cut its exposure to the Japanese market. The $33.9
m Thames River Edo Fund, managed by Mark Fawcett,
was down 20.74% for the 12 months until end of
November.
17 Jan 2007
Hitoshi Kudo has joined AIG Global Investment Group
as Deputy Head of AIG Japan Securities Inc. Kudo-san
is the former Head of Alternatives of Nomura
BlackRock Asset Management. His long career in this
industry includes senior positions like Head of
Alternative Investments of Nikko Asset Management,
Vice President of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Corporation, Chief Fund Manager of Alternative
Investments of Sakura Investment Management and
Chief Investment Officer of Sakura Dellsher Inc,
Chicago. Kudo-san also serves on the Tokyo Hedge
Funds Club advisory board.
Toshikatsu Kimura has left Sparx Asset Management
to launch new Japan equity long/short hedge fund
KIMCO.
Yoichiro Imai has launched a Japan-focused activist
fund management firm called Effissimo Capital
Management. Imai-san was previously a portfolio
manager at MAC Asset Management.
16 Jan 2007
AIMA Singapore will host a dinner on January 25th to
welcome Japanese hedge fund managers operating in
Singapore. The guest speaker is Hiroshi Ikeuchi
(founder of Halberdier) and the evening’s master of
ceremonies is Stan Howard (Teneo Partners) who
recently relocated from Tokyo to Singapore.
Japan turnaround fund of the year? Penta Japan Fund,
with an AUM of $846m, returned 170% in 2006,
following a negative return of 19% in 2005.
15 Jan 2007
Yuko Hagiwara has joined fund of hedge funds firm
Rock Maple Funds in New York. Prior to joining Rock
Maple, she worked for Ortelius Capital Partners, RBC
Capital Markets, Ivy Asset Management, Goldman
Sachs Japan and Sanwa Bank.
Nick Linnane has left Citigroup Alternative Investments
in Japan.
Shigeka Koda (ex-Goldman Sachs Asset Management)
has teamed up with Kahori Ando (ex-Sparx Asset
Management) to launch a new Singapore-based Japan
equity long/short hedge fund manager called Four
Seasons Asia Investment.
Drake Management, a New York-based global macro
fixed income hedge fund manager, has opened a
Tokyo office to serve its Asian clients. The new office is
managed by Richard Horodek.
14 Jan 2007
Kengo Osawa has left Nikko Cordial Advisors to join
the Mitsubishi Asset Brains Company, a fund rating
agency and gatekeeper which is part of the mighty
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
8 Jan 2007
According to a new report by Cerulli Associates, 87.5%
of Japanese money managers already offer funds of
hedge funds.
5 Jan 2007
Shaun Lawson of Hunter Capital reports that "The
Japanese Money Tree - How Investors Can Prosper
from Japan's Economic Rebirth", a new book by
Andrew Shipley, will be published by FT Press this
February. Shipley's work highlights a resurgent interest
in Japan as the land of the rising investment
opportunity. A 15-year Japan veteran, and former
economist at Lehman, CSFB, Schroders, and WestLB,
Shipley has tapped his extensive insider contacts for
surprisingly candid insights on how managers are
seeking returns in hedge funds, private equity, M&A,
and real-estate. With government, academic, and
industry sources he also explores the effects of
structural reforms and the aging population, trends in
valuation of intangible assets, and linkage with
Chinese growth.
3 Jan 2007
Japan's number two securities house, Daiwa
Securities, will this month open a wealth management
office in Singapore.
28 Dec 2006
Yuriko Iwai, who earlier this year left the office of the
CIO at Shinsei Bank, has joined Rogers Investment
Advisors, a Japan-focused fund of hedge funds in
Tokyo.
27 Dec 2006
Of the 112 Japan-focused hedge funds that report
performance numbers to data provider Eurekahedge,
only 36 had positive year-to-date performance as of the
end of November.
The Japan equity long/short hedge fund managed by
GLG Partners lost 5.5% in November.
26 Dec 2006
Santa Claus seems to have forgotten Nikko Citigroup
this Christmas. Not only did its shares plunge 23% in
three days wiping out $2.8 billion of its market value
(following the Dec. 18th announcement by the
Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission
that it would fine Nikko Cordial 500m yen for overstating
profits). Now Bloomberg reports that several Tokyo-
based customers, including Sumitomo Mitsui Asset
Management, Societe General Asset Management and
Yasuda Asset Management, have stopped trading with
Nikko Citigroup because of the scandal.
21 Dec 2006
Yasuko Hagiwara has left hedge fund advisor Profit
Research Center in Tokyo to join Lehman Brothers
Japan.
Tokyo-based Root Asset Management will launch the
RAM Japan Long/Short Fund in January.
Some Japanese banks have started to redeem their
hedge fund investments in order to comply with the
new Basel II rules that will come into effect in Japan at
the end of March. Under the new rules, which mainly
will affect Japan’s 111 regional banks, Japan’s FSA
requires banks to set aside a higher level of capital
reserves against what the FSA considers to be “riskier
investments” such as hedge funds. Hedge fund
investors and managers alike are saying that the FSA
does not seem to understand what hedge funds are
and how they work.
20 Dec 2006
Japan’s biggest securities firm, Nomura, has agreed to
pay US$888m for a 15% stake in New York-based
alternative investment manager Fortress Investment
Group. Fortress, which has US$26b in AUM, is active in
both hedge funds and private equity. It is anticipated
that Nomura can help Fortress grow in Japan and the
rest of Asia.
18 Dec 2006
Financialnews-us.com reports that so far this year
Japan-focused funds have shown the greatest range of
returns among equity long/short hedge funds. As of 8th
December, the Penta Japan Fund ($600m in AUM) was
up 183.3% year-to-date while in the same period the
Blue Sky Japan Fund ($500m in AUM) lost 29.1%.
13 Dec 2006
In a recent fund of funds survey by Citywire, a majority of
FoFs agree that 2007 will be a tougher year for markets
than 2006. In Japan, 40% of the FoFs said they are
taking above average levels of risk.
Event-driven hedge funds, who aim to profit from
mergers, acquisitions and corporate shakeups, are
gaining popularity in Japan as the country's longest
economic expansion since World War II spurs
takeovers, Bloomberg reports. Nearly 1,900 deals
involving Japanese companies were announced in the
first 11 months of 2006, up from 1,640 a year earlier
and about 1,033 in 2004, data compiled by Bloomberg
show.
12 Dec 2006
According to industry sources, Goldman Sachs Asset
Management plans to beef up its fund of hedge funds
business in Japan with a key new hire in Tokyo.
11 Dec 2006
NewAlpha Advisers, the hedge fund seeding business
of French company ADI, is considering investing in
emerging Japanese hedge fund managers.
Miyako Yanihara has left her post at fund of hedge
funds Fauchier Partners, where she was looking after
its Japanese clients, to join Liongate Capital
Management. At fund of hedge funds Liongate
Yanihara-san will focus on research and due diligence
of Asian hedge fund managers.
Last week BFC Asset Management hosted a hedge
fund seminar for Japanese pension funds in Tokyo .
Noboru Terada, former investment director of Japan ’s
Government Pension Investment Fund, the world’s
largest pension fund, delivered a keynote speech on
how hedge funds can contribute to pension funds’
asset allocation.
9 Dec 2006
Christoph Schockemoehle, one of the founders of
Japan equity long/short fund manager Trident Pacific,
has left to set up his own firm Marina Capital
Management. Singapore-based Christoph will be the
CIO of the new fund which is believed to be an
Asia/Japan equity long/short strategy.
6 Dec 2006
Due to new capital requirements Japanese banks may
be forced to cut down on their hedge fund investments.
The new Basel II requirements are due to be
implemented at the end of March 2007.
Bloomberg reports that Sumitomo Life Insurance plans
to increase investments in hedge funds in order to beat
returns on Japanese bonds. Zenrosai (National
Federation of Workers and Consumers Insurance
Cooperatives), will reportedly also increase its
investment in hedge funds and other alternative assets.
4 Dec 2006
Abbot Kinney Advisors is launching the Abbot Kinney
Japan Real Estate Fund, a Japan long/short equity
fund. Behind the launch are Hans Tiedemann (Investor
Select Advisors, Tiedemann Investment Group and ex-
Morgan Stanley), Miyako Shibamoto (ex-Goldman
Sachs) and Takashi Hashimoto (ex-Nikko Citigroup).
1 Dec 2006
When Irish rockers U2 played in Japan this week half
the hedge fund and securities industries left their
offices in central Tokyo to go out to Saitama for the
shows. We guess that the industry’s interest in U2 is
somehow related to their songs about the Japanese
stock market: “Bad”, “I still haven’t found what I’m
looking for” and “She moves in mysterious ways”. No?
30 Nov 2006
Myojo Foods, the Japanese noodle maker, has
announced that it has escaped from a hostile takeover
bid from Steel Partners, a US hedge fund manager.
Steel Partners lost out to an industry buyer who
succeeded with a white knight counter offer.
27 Nov 2006
London-based WiJo Capital launched the WiJo Japan
Value Fund, a Japan equity long/short fund, last week.
The fund is managed by Henk Jonker (ex-GLG) and
Meurig Williams (ex-Goldman Sachs).
Michael Hughes, CIO of Baring Asset Management,
believes that the investment environment in Japan
offers long/short managers some great opportunities.
Excess liquidity and a decline in research coverage
have created new opportunities for more sophisticated
investors. Michael Hughes, whose team manages the
Baring Japan Absolute Return Fund, sees some great
opportunities in shorting overvalued large cap stocks.
21 Nov 2006
PCE Investors in the UK will launch the Kuromatsu
Fund, a Japanese large cap equity long/short fund, at
the beginning of January. The Kuromatsu Fund will be
managed by Peter Nicholas (ex-CIO of EN Asset
Management) and Chris Taylor (ex-ING Barings, UBS).
17 Nov 2006
Allenbridge HedgeInfo recently announced the release
of their ratings reports for three GAM hedge funds. The
GAM Japan Equity Hedge Fund received an "A" rating.
According to Greenwich Associates an average
Japanese corporate pension plan is today 96% funded.
This compares to 83% in 2005 and 65% in 2003.
It’s no doubt been a tough year for Japanese
managers. According to Eurekahedge’s Japan index,
Japan equity long/short funds are on average down
more than 4.5% year to date. 77% of all Japanese
hedge funds are down year to date.
16 Nov 2006
State Street Global Advisors launched two Japanese
exchange-traded funds earlier this week. The two EFTs
are the streetTRACKS Russell/Nomura Prime Japan
ETF, which tracks the performance of Japan’s 1,000
largest stocks, and the streetTRACKS Russell/Nomura
Small Cap Japan ETF.
15 Nov 2006
Some 700 hedge fund managers and investors
gathered in Tokyo for the 7th Annual Goldman Sachs
Tokyo Hedge Fund Symposium. After a dreadful year
both managers and investors hope that 2007 will bring
much better performance numbers.
Bank of Japan Governor Fukui and Finance Minister
Omi have been announced as keynote speakers at
Institutional Investor's Japan Investment Forum,
sponsored by Bear Stearns Asset Management, in
Tokyo in May 2007.
14 Nov 2006
The Nikkei newspaper has reported that Bank of Japan
and the Financial Services Agency will increase
supervision of regional banks' hedge fund investments.
Recent data from the central bank shows that
investments in hedge funds and other "risky"
investments (including REITs and structured products)
by Japan’s 111 regional have doubled to ¥3.17 trillion
(US$27 billion) in the past three years.
10 Nov 2006
Hedge Vision Capital has this week launched the
Hedge Vision Japan Fund, a new Japanese L/S hedge
fund. Senior portfolio manager is Stefan Bollhalder who
has a track record of trading the Japanese markets
from Julius Baer and First New York Securities.
Sector Zen, a Japan/Asia long/short equity hedge fund
based in Norway, has joined The Nordic Hedge Fund
Index (NHX) and database. The fund is managed by
Sector Asset Management, an Oslo-based
management company with over $1 billion in AUM.
Between them the fund managers, Trond Hermansen
and Hans-Martin Thorsen, have previously worked with
Storebrand’s Japan and Asia equity portfolio
management team as well as gained experience from
Christiania Bank and Unibank.
9 Nov 2006
Katsuyoshi Tanaka has left Mitsubishi Corporation to
join activist hedge fund Steel Partners as a managing
director in its Tokyo office.
3 Nov 2006
Japan's biggest securities firm, Nomura, is reportedly
trying to launch its own prime brokerage business to
compete with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley,
who between them dominate the Japanese prime
brokerage market. Nomura's biggest Japanese rival,
Daiwa Securities SMBC, is also considering making a
move in the prime brokerage space.
2 Nov 2006
Nomura has announced it will acquire Instinet, one of
the world's biggest agency brokers.
31 Oct 2006
Coupland Cardiff Asset Management has recently hired
Jonathan Dobson from JP Morgan Asset Management.
According to a Hedgeweek interview with the firm’s CIO
and founder, Angus Coupland, they plan to launch a
Japanese long/short equity fund in early 2007.
London-based NewSmith Capital Partners, who
opened a Tokyo office in 2005, is planning to launch a
Japanese long/short equity fund at the end of this year
or early next year. NewSmith recently won a $500m
mandate from Wellcome Trust in the UK and will use
some of this money to launch new funds.
On 30th October, the memorial service for Allan Walker
of Eban Japan, one of the top headhunters in
Japanese finance, brought together Tokyo’s finance
elite. A service at a packed St Alban’s Church was
followed by a reception at the Tokyo American Club.
Allan did indeed get the sending off he deserved as
tears were mixed with laughs as Allan’s life was
remembered and celebrated.
28 Oct 2006
Takuma Yoshida has left DB Absolute Return
Strategies to join Citigroup Alternative Investments as
managing director of its Tokyo-based team.
US activist hedge fund Steel Partners is raising its
stake in Myojo Foods. The hedge fund has been a
major shareholder in the company since 2003. Kenzo
Kuroda left Steel Partners in June but remains a board
member of Myojo Foods. Is this perhaps the start of the
revival of activist funds in Japan who suffered badly
after all the negative publicity surrounding the
Murakami scandal earlier this year?
27 Oct 2006
James Rice, formerly managing director at Citigroup
Japan, has been appointed as the new international
head of K2 Advisors. K2 is a $5 billion fund of hedge
funds headquartered in Connecticut, USA.
24 Oct 2006
A legend is leaving Japan: Stanley Howard, Vice
Chairman of AIMA Japan and until recently President –
Japan and Asia at fund of hedge funds firm Investor
Select Advisors, has joined Teneo Partners to head up
its new Singapore office. Teneo Partners is a Tokyo-
based investment advisory company focused on
alternative investments.
According to Dailyii.com, the Japanese hedge fund
industry has grown from $10 billion in 2003 to nearly
five times that in 2006. Japan long/short funds
accounts for 91% of the total assets (according to
Lipper HedgeWorld) and an estimated 75% of Japan-
focused hedge funds launching this year were
long/short. Other popular investment strategies are
multi-strategy and event-driven.
23 Oct 2006
Allan Walker of Eban Japan passed away suddenly
and unexpectedly on 22 September. Allan built Eban
Japan into a leader in the executive search field
specialising in finance and asset management. Allan
was an early and enthusiastic backer of the Tokyo
Hedge Funds Club and he will be sadly missed by the
Japanese hedge fund industry. A memorial service for
Allan will be held in Tokyo on 30 October.
Dalton Strategic Partnership has launched the Melchior
Selected Trust Japan Advantage Fund, a Japanese
large cap stock picking fund which will be advised by
Akira Yoshimi at FuNNeX Asset Management.
The Wolver Hill Japan Multi-Strategy Fund is a new fund
of hedge funds advised by Ed Rogers of Rogers
Investments Advisors in Tokyo. This will be the first
Japan-focused FoF located in Japan open to US
investors. Ed Rogers, who is also a director of AIMA
Japan, was until recently the head of Deutsche's prime
brokerage services in Japan. Jason Gerber (formerly of
Bamboo, Amida Capital, and Shinsei Bank) has
recently joined as COO.
20 Oct 2006
According to a new survey of the Asian hedge fund
industry conducted by the Hong Kong Securities and
Futures Commission, 43% of all hedge fund start-ups
in Asia were in Hong Kong, 21% in Japan, 17% in
Singapore and 19% in Australia.
The Rockhampton Fund won both the Japan Fund of
the Year and the overall Fund of the Year awards at the
AsiaHedge Awards held in Hong Kong on 19th
October. Gartmore’s AlphaGen Pyxis won the Best New
Fund Japan award.
4 Oct 2006
According to a new survey by Daiwa Institute of
Research, 62.3% of Japanese pension funds are
investing in hedge funds. An additional 15% of the
pension funds surveyed said they were examining
hedge fund investments.
Analysts quoted in an FT article estimate that Japanese
investors have about $50 billion in hedge fund assets.
6 Sep 2006
In an FT article, Naohiko Matsuo of Japan’s Financial
Services Agency (widely recognised as the brain
behind Japan’s hedge fund rules) has attempted to
reassure the market that the government is not
cracking down on the hedge fund industry.
3 Aug 2006
A study by the prime brokerage of Morgan Stanley found
that Japan long/short equity funds is the most popular
investment strategy among investors.
1 Aug 2006
ABN AMRO Asset Management launches a Japan equity
long/short fund and will seed it with $25m. The new
fund will be managed by Jack Chang in Hong Kong.
news, please click HERE!
13 Apr 2007
Japan needs activists, said Japanese hedge fund
manager Peter Tasker of Arcus Investment in a
research note this week. The recent improvement in
Japanese return on equity has been driven by the rise
in profit margins, mostly caused by holding down
personnel costs. To drive return on equity higher,
Japan needs de-equitisation and the stimulus provided
by activist shareholders. De-equitisation – via activism,
private equity buy-outs and M&A – is crucial if the
Japanese stock market is to put the trauma of the lost
decade behind it and fulfill its potential.
11 Apr 2007
A Financial Services Agency survey issued this week
revealed that hedge fund investments by wealthy
Japanese more than doubled in the year to last March.
The report also showed a 41% increase in all hedge
fund sales in Japan by financial institutions.
9 Apr 2007
Yukinori Machida, formerly of Japan’s Ministry of
Finance, has joined law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw
Pittman to head up its hedge fund practice in Tokyo.
5 Apr 2007
Noboru Terada, formerly executive investment officer of
the Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan,
has joined MSCI Barra as a senior advisor.
4 Apr 2007
According to industry sources, Tokyo-based Panache
Asset Management is about to launch a Japanese
equity long/short hedge fund later this month with seed
money from a major international bank.
3 Apr 2007
Hitoshi Kudo has left his job as Deputy Head of the AIG
Global Investment Group in Japan.
2 Apr 2007
Hiroshi Miyamoto has left his job as a long-only fund
manger at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management to set up
a new Japanese hedge fund.
31 Mar 2007
Atsko Nakajima has resigned from her job as Director
of Hedge Fund Investments and Chief Portfolio
Manager of the Investment Group at Tokyo-based GCI
Asset Management.
Kosuke Ikeda is leaving his job at asset manager DKR
Capital.
29 Mar 2007
Eurekahedge reports that hedge fund assets under
management in Asia grew by 30%, to an estimated
US$132 billion, in 2006. Japan-focused hedge funds
account for 26% of all funds while Asia including Japan
accounts for an additional 18%.
27 Mar 2007
Nick Linnane, who left Citigroup Alternative Investments
Japan in December 2006, has joined the investment
team of Cube Capital in London. Cube manages over
$1 billion in hedge funds and other alternative
investments. Its portfolio includes an Asian fund of
hedge funds.
23 Mar 2007
London Diversified Fund Management, a London-
based hedge fund with US$4.4 billion in AUM is
opening an office in Singapore to expand its Asian
trading capability under management. The new Asian
office will trade fixed income products, derivatives and
FX. LDFM expects to be trading a range of markets in
Asia including Japan.
22 Mar 2007
Japan’s Financial Services Agency says hedge fund
investments in the country rose 22% over a year ago,
while Japanese financial institutions markets held 40%
more hedge funds than in 2005.
21 Mar 2007
Tokyo-based Bluebear Investment Managers Company
Ltd has launched the Quants Japan Equity Fund and
the Bluebear Long Short Japan Fund. Bluebear was
founded at the end of 2006 by Shintaro Tomita (ex-
Goldman Sachs and HSBC) and Toshiyuki Matsushita
(ex-Sparx, Nissay and Dai-ichi Kangyo).
19 Mar 2007
According to Nikkei Shimbun, The Children's
Investment Fund (TCI), a London-based hedge fund,
has bought at least a 1% stake in Chubu Electric
Power Co and asked the utility for higher dividends and
share buy-backs, pushing Chubu shares up more than
3%. TCI has already pressured Japanese electricity
wholesaler Electric Power Development (J-Power) to
triple its dividend.
16 Mar 2007
CQS is launching the CQS Asia Fund which will focus
on convertible bond and equity strategies, investing
across Asia including Japan. The fund will be headed
by Jean-Christophe Blanc who will work with a team of
11 investment professionals in London and Hong
Kong.
According to Asianinvestor.net, several large Japanese
asset managers are now considering launching
130/30 long/short equity strategies as a response to
the ever increasing investments in hedge fund
strategies from Japanese investors. 130/30 strategies
combines a 130% long position and a 30% short
position, with the proceeds from the short helping to
pay for the additional long exposure.
12 Mar 2007
Mizuho Corporate Bank is reported to be setting up an
asset management firm in New York in April. The new
company has plans to expand into hedge fund
investments in the not too distant future.
The Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index returned
an estimated +0.99% in February which brings the year-
to-date return to +2.23%.
8 Mar 2007
Japan-focused FreeSpirit Capital Management, based
in Sydney, closed two funds at the end of February: a
Japan equity long/short fund and the long-only Japan
Opportunity Fund. Following a tough 2006, the funds
saw redemptions accounting for most of the assets.
Both funds were managed by Ian MacDonald and Tim
Orchard.
Somer Hatano, formerly of Morgan Stanley Japan, has
set up Alpha Dialogue Advisors, a New York-based
consulting firm for the alternative investment industry
and with a specific focus on Japan.
3 Mar 2007
Over the last few months several Tokyo-based hedge
funds are believed to have shut down, including Amida
Capital and Hachibushu Capital. However, during the
same period several new Japan-focused hedge funds
have also launched, so it is not one-way traffic.
1 Mar 2007
New tougher rules relating to marketing hedge funds to
retail investors in Japan will come into effect next
summer.
26 Feb 2007
ING Investment Management has this month launched
an Asian-focused fund of hedge funds. The ING Asia
Pacific Managers Segregated Portfolio Fund will invest
in Asian hedge fund managers, including Japanese
managers.
The Japanese government is to embark on a
substantial programme to revitalise Tokyo as an
international financial centre and attract more foreign
financial institutions, including private equity and hedge
funds. All according to a Financial Times interview with
Yuji Yamamoto, Japan’s financial services minister.
Fimat, the prime brokerage division of Societe
Generale, is rumoured to be in talks to acquire
Himawari CX, Japan's largest commodities futures
broker.
24 Feb 2007
This week Kazumasa Iwata, deputy governor of Bank of
Japan, became the first deputy since the bank became
independent to defy the governor.
23 Feb 2007
Ichigo Asset Management, a Japan-focused hedge
fund manager led by Scott Callon, made Japanese
corporate history when it was part of a Tokyo Kohtetsu
shareholder group that successfully stopped a merger
that had been approved by the company's board.
17 Feb 2007
Nick Ricciardi, formerly of Goldman Sachs Japan, has
formed Citta Capital Management, which this month
launched the Citta Fund, a Japanese equity long/short
fund.
David Hatt, a former chief executive of Nikko Citigroup,
will join Deutsche Securities as president of its
Japanese brokerage unit.
Hedge fund manager Dalton Investments has
reportedly successfully completed the first ever
management buyout of a healthy company when it
acquired SunTelephone for US$325 million.
16 Feb 2007
Activist hedge fund manager Steel Partners has
launched a hostile takeover bid for Sapporo, one of
Japan’s leading breweries. Apart from all the lovely
beer, Sapporo also has a rather tasty real estate
portfolio in Japan, including Yebisu Garden Place,
home to Morgan Stanley Japan. Steel Partners already
has a portfolio of more than 30 Japanese companies.
14 Feb 2007
Kenzo Kuroda, who left Steel Partners Japan in June
2006, has reportedly launched an activist fund focused
on Japan. The Fugen Capital Japan Fund was
launched in November 2006 and has just opened to
external investors.
Japanese broker giant Nomura made a rather tidy
US$819 million profit on its investment in Fortress
Investment Group. Nomura took a 15% stake in the US
hedge fund manager and has nearly doubled its
money in less than a month. Their original US$888m
stake is now worth around US$1.7 billion.
12 Feb 2007
Following a disappointing yearly return of -3.88% in
2006, the Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index was
up an estimated
+0.87% in January.
9 Feb 2007
Tokyo-based SBI Asset Management has announced it
will launch the SBI Absolute Return Fund. The new SBI
fund will invest in the Geronimo Multi-Strategy Offshore
Fund and the Geronimo Sector Opportunity Offshore
Fund.
7 Feb 2007
Japan’s former Vice Finance Minister, Dr Eisuke
Sakakibara, affectionately known as Mr. Yen, has been
confirmed as a keynote speaker at the Hedge Fund
Investments Japan IQ 2007 conference in Tokyo in
June.
RAB Capital reportedly is about to shut down its
Japanese hedge fund because of poor performance.
2 Feb 2007
The Tokyo Stock Exchange has agreed to form a
strategic alliance with the New York Stock Exchange.
The two exchanges will cooperate on joint listings,
trading technology and marketing. The TSE has also
said it may form similar alliances with other
exchanges, possibly including CME and LSE.
1 Feb 2007
Aozora Bank, one of the leading Japanese commercial
banks, reported its financial results for the nine months
to 31 December 2006. Net income was at a record high
for the three quarters with gains on the bank’s hedge
fund investments being one of the profit drivers, the
bank said in a press release this week.
Sparx, the Tokyo-based alternative investment group
founded by Shuhei Abe, has announced it has opened
an office in Sydney to further expand in the Asian-Pacific
region.
29 Jan 2007
AIMA Japan has today elected a new executive
committee at its annual general meeting. AIMA Japan
is now managed by the following executive board
members: Hideki Hashiguchi (HSBC), Shinichiro
Shiraki (Monex Alternative Investments), Ed Rogers
(Rogers Investment Advisors), Sadayuki Horie
(Nomura Research Institute), Chris Wells (White &
Case), Peter Itoh (Japan Venture Partners), Brad
Resnik (Deutsche), Andrew Hill (Nikko Citigroup) and
Stefan Nilsson (Bear Stearns). In addition, Stan
Howard (Teneo Partners) and Akira Adachi (Fortis) will
remain as board directors while former AIMA chairman
Ted Uemae (Alternative Investment Products) will now
represent Japan on the board of AIMA in London.
25 Jan 2007
Oria Capital, the Asian fund of hedge funds based in
Hong Kong, has been acquired by Swiss banking
group SYZ & Co. Oria Capital, headed by Jennifer
Carver, will be rebranded as 3A Asia and will be
responsible for SYZ’s investments in Asian hedge
funds including Japanese managers.
An emerging hedge fund manager survey conducted by
VanthedgePoint has revealed that 34.4% of
respondents think Japan will be the top performing
equity market in 2007.
23 Jan 2007
Ted Uemae is retiring as chairman of the Alternative
Investment Management Association Japan after five
years. The new chairman and board of directors will be
elected at AIMA Japan’s annual general meeting on
29th January.
19 Jan 2007
Bank of Japan's inaction on interest rates keeps the
yen carry trade alive for the time being. The BoJ left its
benchmark interest rate at 0.25% this week.
18 Jan 2007
AIMA Japan will hold its annual general meeting in
Tokyo on Monday 29 January. It will also host a half-day
hedge fund seminar the same day.
Lyxor Asset Management is about to list an Exchange
Traded Fund (ETF) based on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange Price Index on the SWX Swiss Exchange.
The new Japan ETF gives investors instant exposure to
the Japanese market.
The Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index finished
2006 down 3.43% after a gain of 1.91% in December.
Thames River Capital’s Japan equity long/short fund
has cut its exposure to the Japanese market. The $33.9
m Thames River Edo Fund, managed by Mark Fawcett,
was down 20.74% for the 12 months until end of
November.
17 Jan 2007
Hitoshi Kudo has joined AIG Global Investment Group
as Deputy Head of AIG Japan Securities Inc. Kudo-san
is the former Head of Alternatives of Nomura
BlackRock Asset Management. His long career in this
industry includes senior positions like Head of
Alternative Investments of Nikko Asset Management,
Vice President of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Corporation, Chief Fund Manager of Alternative
Investments of Sakura Investment Management and
Chief Investment Officer of Sakura Dellsher Inc,
Chicago. Kudo-san also serves on the Tokyo Hedge
Funds Club advisory board.
Toshikatsu Kimura has left Sparx Asset Management
to launch new Japan equity long/short hedge fund
KIMCO.
Yoichiro Imai has launched a Japan-focused activist
fund management firm called Effissimo Capital
Management. Imai-san was previously a portfolio
manager at MAC Asset Management.
16 Jan 2007
AIMA Singapore will host a dinner on January 25th to
welcome Japanese hedge fund managers operating in
Singapore. The guest speaker is Hiroshi Ikeuchi
(founder of Halberdier) and the evening’s master of
ceremonies is Stan Howard (Teneo Partners) who
recently relocated from Tokyo to Singapore.
Japan turnaround fund of the year? Penta Japan Fund,
with an AUM of $846m, returned 170% in 2006,
following a negative return of 19% in 2005.
15 Jan 2007
Yuko Hagiwara has joined fund of hedge funds firm
Rock Maple Funds in New York. Prior to joining Rock
Maple, she worked for Ortelius Capital Partners, RBC
Capital Markets, Ivy Asset Management, Goldman
Sachs Japan and Sanwa Bank.
Nick Linnane has left Citigroup Alternative Investments
in Japan.
Shigeka Koda (ex-Goldman Sachs Asset Management)
has teamed up with Kahori Ando (ex-Sparx Asset
Management) to launch a new Singapore-based Japan
equity long/short hedge fund manager called Four
Seasons Asia Investment.
Drake Management, a New York-based global macro
fixed income hedge fund manager, has opened a
Tokyo office to serve its Asian clients. The new office is
managed by Richard Horodek.
14 Jan 2007
Kengo Osawa has left Nikko Cordial Advisors to join
the Mitsubishi Asset Brains Company, a fund rating
agency and gatekeeper which is part of the mighty
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
8 Jan 2007
According to a new report by Cerulli Associates, 87.5%
of Japanese money managers already offer funds of
hedge funds.
5 Jan 2007
Shaun Lawson of Hunter Capital reports that "The
Japanese Money Tree - How Investors Can Prosper
from Japan's Economic Rebirth", a new book by
Andrew Shipley, will be published by FT Press this
February. Shipley's work highlights a resurgent interest
in Japan as the land of the rising investment
opportunity. A 15-year Japan veteran, and former
economist at Lehman, CSFB, Schroders, and WestLB,
Shipley has tapped his extensive insider contacts for
surprisingly candid insights on how managers are
seeking returns in hedge funds, private equity, M&A,
and real-estate. With government, academic, and
industry sources he also explores the effects of
structural reforms and the aging population, trends in
valuation of intangible assets, and linkage with
Chinese growth.
3 Jan 2007
Japan's number two securities house, Daiwa
Securities, will this month open a wealth management
office in Singapore.
28 Dec 2006
Yuriko Iwai, who earlier this year left the office of the
CIO at Shinsei Bank, has joined Rogers Investment
Advisors, a Japan-focused fund of hedge funds in
Tokyo.
27 Dec 2006
Of the 112 Japan-focused hedge funds that report
performance numbers to data provider Eurekahedge,
only 36 had positive year-to-date performance as of the
end of November.
The Japan equity long/short hedge fund managed by
GLG Partners lost 5.5% in November.
26 Dec 2006
Santa Claus seems to have forgotten Nikko Citigroup
this Christmas. Not only did its shares plunge 23% in
three days wiping out $2.8 billion of its market value
(following the Dec. 18th announcement by the
Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission
that it would fine Nikko Cordial 500m yen for overstating
profits). Now Bloomberg reports that several Tokyo-
based customers, including Sumitomo Mitsui Asset
Management, Societe General Asset Management and
Yasuda Asset Management, have stopped trading with
Nikko Citigroup because of the scandal.
21 Dec 2006
Yasuko Hagiwara has left hedge fund advisor Profit
Research Center in Tokyo to join Lehman Brothers
Japan.
Tokyo-based Root Asset Management will launch the
RAM Japan Long/Short Fund in January.
Some Japanese banks have started to redeem their
hedge fund investments in order to comply with the
new Basel II rules that will come into effect in Japan at
the end of March. Under the new rules, which mainly
will affect Japan’s 111 regional banks, Japan’s FSA
requires banks to set aside a higher level of capital
reserves against what the FSA considers to be “riskier
investments” such as hedge funds. Hedge fund
investors and managers alike are saying that the FSA
does not seem to understand what hedge funds are
and how they work.
20 Dec 2006
Japan’s biggest securities firm, Nomura, has agreed to
pay US$888m for a 15% stake in New York-based
alternative investment manager Fortress Investment
Group. Fortress, which has US$26b in AUM, is active in
both hedge funds and private equity. It is anticipated
that Nomura can help Fortress grow in Japan and the
rest of Asia.
18 Dec 2006
Financialnews-us.com reports that so far this year
Japan-focused funds have shown the greatest range of
returns among equity long/short hedge funds. As of 8th
December, the Penta Japan Fund ($600m in AUM) was
up 183.3% year-to-date while in the same period the
Blue Sky Japan Fund ($500m in AUM) lost 29.1%.
13 Dec 2006
In a recent fund of funds survey by Citywire, a majority of
FoFs agree that 2007 will be a tougher year for markets
than 2006. In Japan, 40% of the FoFs said they are
taking above average levels of risk.
Event-driven hedge funds, who aim to profit from
mergers, acquisitions and corporate shakeups, are
gaining popularity in Japan as the country's longest
economic expansion since World War II spurs
takeovers, Bloomberg reports. Nearly 1,900 deals
involving Japanese companies were announced in the
first 11 months of 2006, up from 1,640 a year earlier
and about 1,033 in 2004, data compiled by Bloomberg
show.
12 Dec 2006
According to industry sources, Goldman Sachs Asset
Management plans to beef up its fund of hedge funds
business in Japan with a key new hire in Tokyo.
11 Dec 2006
NewAlpha Advisers, the hedge fund seeding business
of French company ADI, is considering investing in
emerging Japanese hedge fund managers.
Miyako Yanihara has left her post at fund of hedge
funds Fauchier Partners, where she was looking after
its Japanese clients, to join Liongate Capital
Management. At fund of hedge funds Liongate
Yanihara-san will focus on research and due diligence
of Asian hedge fund managers.
Last week BFC Asset Management hosted a hedge
fund seminar for Japanese pension funds in Tokyo .
Noboru Terada, former investment director of Japan ’s
Government Pension Investment Fund, the world’s
largest pension fund, delivered a keynote speech on
how hedge funds can contribute to pension funds’
asset allocation.
9 Dec 2006
Christoph Schockemoehle, one of the founders of
Japan equity long/short fund manager Trident Pacific,
has left to set up his own firm Marina Capital
Management. Singapore-based Christoph will be the
CIO of the new fund which is believed to be an
Asia/Japan equity long/short strategy.
6 Dec 2006
Due to new capital requirements Japanese banks may
be forced to cut down on their hedge fund investments.
The new Basel II requirements are due to be
implemented at the end of March 2007.
Bloomberg reports that Sumitomo Life Insurance plans
to increase investments in hedge funds in order to beat
returns on Japanese bonds. Zenrosai (National
Federation of Workers and Consumers Insurance
Cooperatives), will reportedly also increase its
investment in hedge funds and other alternative assets.
4 Dec 2006
Abbot Kinney Advisors is launching the Abbot Kinney
Japan Real Estate Fund, a Japan long/short equity
fund. Behind the launch are Hans Tiedemann (Investor
Select Advisors, Tiedemann Investment Group and ex-
Morgan Stanley), Miyako Shibamoto (ex-Goldman
Sachs) and Takashi Hashimoto (ex-Nikko Citigroup).
1 Dec 2006
When Irish rockers U2 played in Japan this week half
the hedge fund and securities industries left their
offices in central Tokyo to go out to Saitama for the
shows. We guess that the industry’s interest in U2 is
somehow related to their songs about the Japanese
stock market: “Bad”, “I still haven’t found what I’m
looking for” and “She moves in mysterious ways”. No?
30 Nov 2006
Myojo Foods, the Japanese noodle maker, has
announced that it has escaped from a hostile takeover
bid from Steel Partners, a US hedge fund manager.
Steel Partners lost out to an industry buyer who
succeeded with a white knight counter offer.
27 Nov 2006
London-based WiJo Capital launched the WiJo Japan
Value Fund, a Japan equity long/short fund, last week.
The fund is managed by Henk Jonker (ex-GLG) and
Meurig Williams (ex-Goldman Sachs).
Michael Hughes, CIO of Baring Asset Management,
believes that the investment environment in Japan
offers long/short managers some great opportunities.
Excess liquidity and a decline in research coverage
have created new opportunities for more sophisticated
investors. Michael Hughes, whose team manages the
Baring Japan Absolute Return Fund, sees some great
opportunities in shorting overvalued large cap stocks.
21 Nov 2006
PCE Investors in the UK will launch the Kuromatsu
Fund, a Japanese large cap equity long/short fund, at
the beginning of January. The Kuromatsu Fund will be
managed by Peter Nicholas (ex-CIO of EN Asset
Management) and Chris Taylor (ex-ING Barings, UBS).
17 Nov 2006
Allenbridge HedgeInfo recently announced the release
of their ratings reports for three GAM hedge funds. The
GAM Japan Equity Hedge Fund received an "A" rating.
According to Greenwich Associates an average
Japanese corporate pension plan is today 96% funded.
This compares to 83% in 2005 and 65% in 2003.
It’s no doubt been a tough year for Japanese
managers. According to Eurekahedge’s Japan index,
Japan equity long/short funds are on average down
more than 4.5% year to date. 77% of all Japanese
hedge funds are down year to date.
16 Nov 2006
State Street Global Advisors launched two Japanese
exchange-traded funds earlier this week. The two EFTs
are the streetTRACKS Russell/Nomura Prime Japan
ETF, which tracks the performance of Japan’s 1,000
largest stocks, and the streetTRACKS Russell/Nomura
Small Cap Japan ETF.
15 Nov 2006
Some 700 hedge fund managers and investors
gathered in Tokyo for the 7th Annual Goldman Sachs
Tokyo Hedge Fund Symposium. After a dreadful year
both managers and investors hope that 2007 will bring
much better performance numbers.
Bank of Japan Governor Fukui and Finance Minister
Omi have been announced as keynote speakers at
Institutional Investor's Japan Investment Forum,
sponsored by Bear Stearns Asset Management, in
Tokyo in May 2007.
14 Nov 2006
The Nikkei newspaper has reported that Bank of Japan
and the Financial Services Agency will increase
supervision of regional banks' hedge fund investments.
Recent data from the central bank shows that
investments in hedge funds and other "risky"
investments (including REITs and structured products)
by Japan’s 111 regional have doubled to ¥3.17 trillion
(US$27 billion) in the past three years.
10 Nov 2006
Hedge Vision Capital has this week launched the
Hedge Vision Japan Fund, a new Japanese L/S hedge
fund. Senior portfolio manager is Stefan Bollhalder who
has a track record of trading the Japanese markets
from Julius Baer and First New York Securities.
Sector Zen, a Japan/Asia long/short equity hedge fund
based in Norway, has joined The Nordic Hedge Fund
Index (NHX) and database. The fund is managed by
Sector Asset Management, an Oslo-based
management company with over $1 billion in AUM.
Between them the fund managers, Trond Hermansen
and Hans-Martin Thorsen, have previously worked with
Storebrand’s Japan and Asia equity portfolio
management team as well as gained experience from
Christiania Bank and Unibank.
9 Nov 2006
Katsuyoshi Tanaka has left Mitsubishi Corporation to
join activist hedge fund Steel Partners as a managing
director in its Tokyo office.
3 Nov 2006
Japan's biggest securities firm, Nomura, is reportedly
trying to launch its own prime brokerage business to
compete with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley,
who between them dominate the Japanese prime
brokerage market. Nomura's biggest Japanese rival,
Daiwa Securities SMBC, is also considering making a
move in the prime brokerage space.
2 Nov 2006
Nomura has announced it will acquire Instinet, one of
the world's biggest agency brokers.
31 Oct 2006
Coupland Cardiff Asset Management has recently hired
Jonathan Dobson from JP Morgan Asset Management.
According to a Hedgeweek interview with the firm’s CIO
and founder, Angus Coupland, they plan to launch a
Japanese long/short equity fund in early 2007.
London-based NewSmith Capital Partners, who
opened a Tokyo office in 2005, is planning to launch a
Japanese long/short equity fund at the end of this year
or early next year. NewSmith recently won a $500m
mandate from Wellcome Trust in the UK and will use
some of this money to launch new funds.
On 30th October, the memorial service for Allan Walker
of Eban Japan, one of the top headhunters in
Japanese finance, brought together Tokyo’s finance
elite. A service at a packed St Alban’s Church was
followed by a reception at the Tokyo American Club.
Allan did indeed get the sending off he deserved as
tears were mixed with laughs as Allan’s life was
remembered and celebrated.
28 Oct 2006
Takuma Yoshida has left DB Absolute Return
Strategies to join Citigroup Alternative Investments as
managing director of its Tokyo-based team.
US activist hedge fund Steel Partners is raising its
stake in Myojo Foods. The hedge fund has been a
major shareholder in the company since 2003. Kenzo
Kuroda left Steel Partners in June but remains a board
member of Myojo Foods. Is this perhaps the start of the
revival of activist funds in Japan who suffered badly
after all the negative publicity surrounding the
Murakami scandal earlier this year?
27 Oct 2006
James Rice, formerly managing director at Citigroup
Japan, has been appointed as the new international
head of K2 Advisors. K2 is a $5 billion fund of hedge
funds headquartered in Connecticut, USA.
24 Oct 2006
A legend is leaving Japan: Stanley Howard, Vice
Chairman of AIMA Japan and until recently President –
Japan and Asia at fund of hedge funds firm Investor
Select Advisors, has joined Teneo Partners to head up
its new Singapore office. Teneo Partners is a Tokyo-
based investment advisory company focused on
alternative investments.
According to Dailyii.com, the Japanese hedge fund
industry has grown from $10 billion in 2003 to nearly
five times that in 2006. Japan long/short funds
accounts for 91% of the total assets (according to
Lipper HedgeWorld) and an estimated 75% of Japan-
focused hedge funds launching this year were
long/short. Other popular investment strategies are
multi-strategy and event-driven.
23 Oct 2006
Allan Walker of Eban Japan passed away suddenly
and unexpectedly on 22 September. Allan built Eban
Japan into a leader in the executive search field
specialising in finance and asset management. Allan
was an early and enthusiastic backer of the Tokyo
Hedge Funds Club and he will be sadly missed by the
Japanese hedge fund industry. A memorial service for
Allan will be held in Tokyo on 30 October.
Dalton Strategic Partnership has launched the Melchior
Selected Trust Japan Advantage Fund, a Japanese
large cap stock picking fund which will be advised by
Akira Yoshimi at FuNNeX Asset Management.
The Wolver Hill Japan Multi-Strategy Fund is a new fund
of hedge funds advised by Ed Rogers of Rogers
Investments Advisors in Tokyo. This will be the first
Japan-focused FoF located in Japan open to US
investors. Ed Rogers, who is also a director of AIMA
Japan, was until recently the head of Deutsche's prime
brokerage services in Japan. Jason Gerber (formerly of
Bamboo, Amida Capital, and Shinsei Bank) has
recently joined as COO.
20 Oct 2006
According to a new survey of the Asian hedge fund
industry conducted by the Hong Kong Securities and
Futures Commission, 43% of all hedge fund start-ups
in Asia were in Hong Kong, 21% in Japan, 17% in
Singapore and 19% in Australia.
The Rockhampton Fund won both the Japan Fund of
the Year and the overall Fund of the Year awards at the
AsiaHedge Awards held in Hong Kong on 19th
October. Gartmore’s AlphaGen Pyxis won the Best New
Fund Japan award.
4 Oct 2006
According to a new survey by Daiwa Institute of
Research, 62.3% of Japanese pension funds are
investing in hedge funds. An additional 15% of the
pension funds surveyed said they were examining
hedge fund investments.
Analysts quoted in an FT article estimate that Japanese
investors have about $50 billion in hedge fund assets.
6 Sep 2006
In an FT article, Naohiko Matsuo of Japan’s Financial
Services Agency (widely recognised as the brain
behind Japan’s hedge fund rules) has attempted to
reassure the market that the government is not
cracking down on the hedge fund industry.
3 Aug 2006
A study by the prime brokerage of Morgan Stanley found
that Japan long/short equity funds is the most popular
investment strategy among investors.
1 Aug 2006
ABN AMRO Asset Management launches a Japan equity
long/short fund and will seed it with $25m. The new
fund will be managed by Jack Chang in Hong Kong.
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