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Chairman / Investment Advisory Committee Member
Oki Matsumoto
Oki started his career at Salomon Brothers in 1987. He joined The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in 1990 and became a general partner in 1994. He was a co-head of fixed income and foreign exchange at the Tokyo office, responsible for trading, risk management and overall products. In 1997, he launched the Special Situations Group, which later grew into one of the most profitable units in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He retired in 1998.
In 1999, he established Monex, Inc. with Sony Corporation and established Monex Group, Inc. in 2004. He was an outside director of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) from 2008 for five years, and has participated in various government councils on corporate governance reform, actively involved in improving and reforming the Japanese capital market. Currently, he is a member of the “Council of Experts Concerning the Follow-up of Market Restructuring” at the TSE and an outside director of Mastercard Incorporated in the United States. Oki received his B.A. in Law from Tokyo University.
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Representative Director & President / Chief Portfolio Manager / Investment Advisory Committee Member
Taro Hirano
Taro began his career at The Sumitomo Bank, Limited, where he was involved in regulatory compliance and investments in hedge funds and equities. In 1998, he transitioned to McKinsey & Company, Inc., focusing on management consulting for major Japanese corporations and leading initiatives in strategic business transformations, corporate revitalization, and organizational restructuring. In 2003, Taro joined AllianceBernstein as an equity analyst, where he demonstrated outstanding performance across a wide variety of sectors, including capital goods, technology, telecommunications, energy, transportation, commodities, and consumer goods. As a major shareholder in numerous investment cases, he engaged in critical strategic discussions and provided capital policy recommendations to the senior management of Japan’s leading companies. Taro’s coverage extended beyond Japanese equities to include Asian markets. He served as Sector Leader for the Global Industrials team, one of the five Sector Leaders within Bernstein’s global value equities team, playing a crucial role in the domain of value investing. His tenure as Managing Director at the firm highlighted his significant contributions to the industry. Taro holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from INSEAD.
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Director and Co-President / Portfolio Manager
Takahiro Kusakari
Takahiro started his career as a stage actor. He joined SBI Real Marketing in 2007 and moved to Sawakami Asset Management in 2008, where he gained extensive experience in various roles as client service, head of back office, equity analyst, and fund manager. In 2013, he was appointed as Chief Investment Officer, Head of Investment Research, and in 2015, Director and Chief Investment Officer. By directly contributing to the enhancement of corporate value of portfolio companies, he aspires to both the growth of Japanese companies and the revitalization of Japan’s capital market, as well as building wealth for individual investors. His motto is to seek out turning points for sustainable growth based on value investing based on fundamental analysis. Currently he is an outside director of Asahi Intecc. Takahiro received his B.A. in Science and Engineering from Toyo University.
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Monex Group, Inc. Global Ambassador / Investment Advisory Committee Member
Jesper Koll
Jesper Koll has been researching and 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.
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Portfolio Manager
Akihiro Hanazawa
Akihiro started his career at JP Morgan Securities Japan Co., Ltd. in 2000. In 2008 he joined Horizon Asset International Limited and in 2014 he joined Millennium Management LLC. He consistently worked as a portfolio manager on long-short strategies for individual stocks, option trading, etc., and achieved excellent performance. Akihiro received his B.S. in Mathematics from Keio University in 2000.
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