AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum - Japan 2022
The premier private equity & venture forum in Japan
The Conrad, Tokyo and online
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Tadasu Matsuo leads JST’s alternative investment from January, 2022.
Before joining JST, he led HarbourVest Partners Japan as a managing director and co-head from April, 2020. As a head of alternative investment, he oversaw Japan Post Insurance’s alternative investment, ranging from private equity and infrastructure funds to real estate and hedge funds since September 2016. Before joining JP Insurance, he headed Daido Life’s alternative investment.
Served as Senior Managing Director, he also engaged in private equity fund investment and headed a business development of Alternative Investment Capital (AIC), a leading private equity FOF manager and gatekeeper in Japan. Before seconded from Daido Life to AIC, he managed Daido Life's private equity and other alternative investment for five years. Previously he was in charge of group's business development and investor relations at T&D Holdings, a listed holding company of Daido Life.
Prior to joining Daido Life, Mr. Matsuo held such posts as Director and Managing Director and served as an M&A advisor to various insurers' transactions at PwC Financial Advisory Services Japan from 1999 to 2002. Earlier in his career, he worked for Nippon Life Insurance Company for 13 years, where he managed overseas sovereign credit loans and investments.
Mr. Matsuo received his MBA from Duke University and BA in Economics from The University of Tokyo. He passed the US CPA exams.
Jesper Koll has been researching and investing in Japan since becoming a resident in 1986.Over the past two decades, Jesper has been recognized as one of the top Japan strategists/economists, having worked as Chief Strategist and Head of Research for U.S. investment banks J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch. He currently serves as Expert Director for the Monex Group and the Japan Catalyst Fund (Japan’s 1stretail investor based corporate engagement/activist fund). His analysis and insights have earned him a position on several Japanese government and corporate advisory committees, including Governor Yuriko Koike’s Advisory Board. Jesper serves as Board Director of OIST, the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology and is a Founder of the Asia Society Japan and heads their Policy Committee. He is one of the few non-Japanese members of the Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives. He has written three books in Japanese and, in 2021, created the video/pod-cast series “Japan - Capitalism that works”.
Jesper is an economist, angel-investor, patron; and yes, a Japan Optimist.
Xiaying Zhang is Wellington Management’s Director of Private Investments, based in Singapore. Prior to joining Wellington, Xiaying was Head of Singapore at Hamilton Lane. Xiaying has a Masters’ and Bachelors’ degree in Finance from San Diego State University and is a member of CAIA.
Yan Yang, M.D., CFA, CAIA, Managing Director, is a senior investment professional for BlackRock Private Equity Partners (PEP) within BlackRock Alternative Investors. Mr. Yang is a member of PEP's Global Investment Committee and is responsible for BlackRock PEP' investment activities within the Asia Pacific region as well as account coverage for several major institutional clients in the region. Mr. Yang also plays an important role in PEP's global healthcare investment strategy.
Prior to joining BlackRock in 2011, Mr. Yang had worked at China Investment Corporation ("CIC") in Beijing where he was covering primary PE funds, direct co-investments and secondary investments globally, with a focus on developed markets. Prior to CIC, Mr. Yang worked at GE Asset Management and managed U.S. private equity assets, both funds and co-investments, for the GE Pension Trust. Mr. Yang started his career at GE Healthcare's information technology business.
Mr. Yang currently serves on the advisory board of certain funds managed by Boyu Capital, Carlyle Capital Asia, Olympus Capital Asia and Unitas Capital. Previously he had served on the advisory board of certain funds managed by Avista Capital, BC Partners, Blackstone, CD&R, Providence Equity and WCAS. Mr. Yang had previously served as an observer to the Board of Directors of The Ritedose Company and GXG.
Mr. Yang is a CFA charter holder and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) member. He holds a MD degree in Clinical Medicine from the Peking Union Medical College, and a MBA from the Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business at the Georgetown University.
As a private equity principal, Matt leads the Wellington’s late stage private company investment activity across the consumer and technology sectors. He works closely with global industry analysts and other global research resources within the firm to identify, lead diligence, pursue and manage investments in private companies.
Prior to joining Wellington Management, Matt was a general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, where he focused on early-stage investing. Before that, he served in product roles at ATI Technologies and as a co-founder of the computer hardware review site Anandtech.com.
Matt holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BA in public policy from Duke University.
Soichi Sam Takata has been with Tokio Marine Asset Management since the creation of the private equity investment team in 2002. Before that, Mr Takata was at Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance (Tokio Marine) working in their alternative investment team from 1997 to 1998, and again from 2001 onwards, managing a global portfolio of private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure funds, CDOs/CLOs and other alternative assets.
Mr. Takata spent three years at Tokio Marine Capital, 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 US and the UK. Prior to that, he spent over two years on secondment to the Export-Import Bank of Japan (now the Japan Bank for International Cooperation) working on project finance transactions around the world.
Mr Takata began his career in the international investment department of Tokio Marine overseeing an international portfolio of managed assets. He has a BA in economics from Harvard College.
Karen Simeone joined HarbourVest in 2018 and focuses on investments in senior and junior private credit transactions.
Throughout her career, Karen has managed all aspects of the private credit investment process including sourcing, evaluating, structuring, underwriting and managing secured debt securities of middle market companies. Prior to joining the Firm, Karen was a managing director at TCW in the Direct Lending Group (formerly Regiment Capital’s direct lending team). Karen previously worked at Stairway Capital and HVB Group. Karen began her career at J.P. Morgan as part of the leveraged finance group and later became a member of the high yield research team.
Karen received a BS from Georgetown University in 1998 and studied at the London School of Economics.
Isamu is a Partner and a member of the Client Service Team. He works closely with clients in the management of their portfolios, including providing assistance in the development and monitoring of their private equity programs. Additionally, he is actively involved in the portfolio construction and ongoing monitoring of the various fund of funds programs and separate accounts. Isamu is also involved in the development of consultant relationships.
Isamu spent 15 years with UBS Global Asset Management as a Managing Director and Head of Pension Funds Marketing. As a senior member of the Tokyo team, he was responsible for business development and relationship management of large institutional clients/consultants in Japan.
From 1990 to 1998, Isamu worked for LTCB, a Japanese bank for FX administration, corporate finance including company due diligence for loan lending, client relationship management and business development.
Isamu is a certificated member of the Securities Analyst Association of Japan (CMA).
Sam Robinson is Managing Partner of North-East Private Equity Asia, which focuses on Asia private equity funds. Mr. Robinson is based in Singapore and has worked in private equity since 1998, initially joining Schroder Ventures in the UK. In 2001, he was one of the founder members of SVG Advisers, a fund of funds business, where he managed the global investment team. SVG Advisers was acquired by Aberdeen Asset Management in 2013, whereupon Mr. Robinson became Head of Asia Private Equity Fund Investment until his departure in 2015.
Tadashi Nishizawa is a Managing Director of Private Equity Investment Department of Japan Post Bank (JPB). He has over 15 years of private equity investment experience. Before joining JPB in 2016, he was the Head of Private Equity Division of Daido Life Insurance Company between 2013 and 2016. Prior to that, he spent about 8 years at Alternative Investment Capital Ltd (AIC), an investment advisory firm in private equity investments, where he was most recently Senior Vice President and involved in the management of more than 100 private equity funds portfolio globally. Earlier in his career, he was with Daido Life Insurance Company where he had been in charge of private equity investments since 2002 as well as foreign government bond investments since 1997. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hokkaido University.
Saguna focuses on building and maintaining relationships with funds across the private equity spectrum -venture, growth and buyout. She manages relationships with several of the firm’s managers including Battery, Spectrum, GGV Capital, Altamont, Arcline, Parthenon, Odyssey, Francisco Partners, and Berkshire. She also sits on advisory boards for nine private equity firms within the Adams Street Partners portfolio.
Prior to joining the firm, Saguna was the Managing Director of Private Equity at Stanford Management Company, where she oversaw a $6 billion private equity portfolio. In this role, she was responsible for all facets of portfolio management, including asset allocation, identifying new investment opportunities, managing GP relationships, serving on fund advisory boards, co-investing, and proactively monitoring the portfolio. She was also a member of the investment committee, building and overseeing the broader investment team.
Previously, Saguna was Vice President at Ripplewood Holdings, LLC in New York. In this role she managed business diligence and deal negotiations, including negotiating financing documents, purchase agreements and employment contracts, conducting operational due diligence, and developing business plans. She commenced her career at Morgan Stanley in their Financial Sponsors Group.
Saguna is a member of Adams Street’s Primary Investment Committee, Portfolio Construction Committee, and serves on the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee as a leadership member
Brian Lim, Partner at Pantheon, joined the firm in 2009 and has 20 years of private equity experience. Brian is Pantheon’s Head of Asia and Emerging Markets Investment teams and is involved in all aspects of investment activity in those regions. Prior to joining Pantheon, Brian was a Portfolio Director at CDC Group where he helped build their Asia and Emerging Markets portfolio, and before that worked at Watson Wyatt. Brian is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, holds an MBA from the London Business School, and a BSc in Actuarial Science from City, University of London. Brian is a member of the EMPEA Board and the Chair of its Asia Council. Brian is based in Hong Kong.
Tatsuya Kubo joined the Firm in 2010 as a managing director. He focuses on enhancing and building relationships with institutional investors and general partners in Japan. Mr. Kubo joined the Firm from Fortress Investment Group Japan, where he served as Managing Director and Head of Business Development after launching the Japan-based business. Prior to that, he spent over 20 years as a senior manager at Norinchukin Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in Japan, where he built and managed an alternative investment portfolio. He received a BA in Economics from Waseda University in 1988 and an MBA from Duke University in 1994. Mr. Kubo speaks fluent Japanese and English.
Chris is Global Head of Capital Solutions and a member of the Executive Committee at General Atlantic. He leads the firm’s global client franchise, overseeing capital partnering, client solutions, strategic partnerships, new business development, and capital formation activities across General Atlantic’s investment strategies that today span global growth equity, private credit, climate transition, and infrastructure solutions.
Previously, Chris was a Partner of Goldman Sachs, where he worked for over 28 years. He founded or led many of the firm's businesses in alternative investments, including its external-manager investing strategies in private equity, secondaries, private credit, real assets, GP stakes, and hedge funds. Most recently, Chris led the global client franchise and capital formation activities for Goldman Sachs Asset & Wealth Management, across firm’s alternative investments and public market investing platforms. He served on many of Goldman Sachs’ firm-wide commercial, people, or investment committees, including its Partnership Committee, Global Inclusion & Diversity Committee, and Firmwide Client Franchise Committee.
Chris is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has served as Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, and is a frequent commentator and writer on alternative investments and asset management. Actively engaged in education and the arts, Chris also serves on the boards of Cambridge in America, The Juilliard School, Collegiate School, and the Leadership Council of Harvard Law School. Originally from the Canadian midwest, he today lives with his family in New York City.
Tomoko Kitao is a Managing Director at Hamilton Lane, based in the firm’s Tokyo office, where she is primarily responsible for management support and development of the firm’s client relationships in Japan. Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in October 2012, Ms. Kitao was with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, most recently as Chief Manager in the International Credit Division. Previously, she was Senior Manager in the Structured Finance Division, where she was responsible for managing a portfolio of global private equity fund investments. She also has extensive experience in the Credit Division, having worked out of the bank’s New York and London offices. Ms. Kitao received a B.A. from International Christian University. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society Japan. Ms. Kitao currently holds a Sales Representative Qualification Class 1, 2, and an Internal Administrative Qualification with the Japan Securities Dealer Association.
Masashi Kataoka is General Manager of Alternative Investment Department at Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company. Prior to his current role, he had led various teams since 2014; hedge fund investment, PE fund investment, infrastructure fund investment, venture fund and direct investment team. He worked 4 years until 2014 at Dai-ichi Life’s NY office and led the manager selection / due diligence practice as well as strategic activities with US asset managers. Since joining Dai-ichi Life in 1997, he has about 20-year-experience in investment related sections including Investment Planning Department where he engaged in the asset allocation of entire Dai-ichi Life’s general account asset. He also has an experience working at an US based hedge fund as a trainee in 2007. He earned Bachelor of Economics in Keio University.
Nobuyuki joined Nomura in 2018 and has been responsible for strategic planning for alternative investment business and marketing. He is currently engaged in promotion of Japan private equity and venture capital investing, and planning and implementing ESG integration in Nomura's alternative investments.
He started his alternative investment career in 1992 when he joined Japan Asia Investment Co., Ltd. (JAIC) as a venture capitalist. His responsibilities at JAIC included fund planning and setup, investment management, client reporting, and management of its Singapore and Thailand local operations. Subsequently he joined Nikko Cordial Securities (now called SMBC Nikko Securities), where he took charge of intermediary business on alternative investment funds, before moving to Nomura.
Graduated from Waseda University (Japan), BA in Commerce.
Noriko Hayashi is Managing Director, Head of Private Equity at ORIX Life Insurance Corporation.
She has been involved in framework building, implementing, portfolio construction and management of a global private markets program for institutional investors with primary focus on Private Equity; currently at ORIX Life Insurance Corporation, previously at Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) and firstly at Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd., since 2000. She started her career at Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd. (MUFG Bank, Ltd.) where she covered Corporate Finance and Operational Improvement in commercial banking business.
She received a B.A. in Law from Kyoto University.
Yuka Hata is a Senior Managing Director and heads Fund Investment Team at Japan Investment Corporation (“JIC”).
Ms. Hata joined JIC in July 2020 in order to build and support Japan’ private equity / venture capital ecosystem as well as to provide the risk capital with the investment funds which bring Japan’s industry to the next stage. Prior to joining JIC, as a co-head of private equity, Ms. Hata worked for Nissay Asset Management where she was mainly responsible for European small-mid buyout, GP stake investments, secondary and Japan’s VC funds. She also worked for Nomura Asset Management (or Nomura Private Equity Capital) and managed fund of funds focused on Asia market as a member of Investment Committee.
Ms. Hata is a Chartered Member of the Security Analysts Association of Japan., and received a B.A. in Environmental Information from Keio University and an M.B.A. from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales-HEC in Paris.
Responsible for portfolio management and all asset classes from 2015.
Full-time for pension fund from July in 2012.
Assistant manager for cash management, foreign exchange, and pension fund : Finance Team from July in 2009
Budget director and strategist : Keiji Residential Sales from 2004.
Responsible for gas billing and service : Keiji Residential Sales.
Joined Osaka Gas Co.,Ltd in 1999.
David is head of Private Credit for Asia Pacific in Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He serves on the Asset Management Credit Investment Committee, Asset Management Real Estate Investment Committee, Australia/New Zealand Operating Committee, Asset Management Inclusion and Diversity Committee and Asset Management Sustainability Council. Previously, David served in senior roles in both corporate advisory and principal investing. He joined Goldman Sachs as an executive director in the Merchant Banking Division in Sydney in 2008 and was named managing director in 2013 and partner in 2018.
Prior to joining the firm, David was an executive director with Morgan Stanley’s real estate principal investing platform, MSREF, based in Sydney and London. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he was a project manager with Lend Lease Corporation in Sydney and Auckland. David earned a BE in Structural Engineering from the University of Auckland and an MBA from London Business School.
Francesco is a Partner in Pantheon’s European Investment and Global Private Debt Investment Teams. Francesco is actively involved in all Pantheon’s European investment activities. Francesco was previously with Unigestion, where he managed the firm’s global secondaries program. Prior to Unigestion he was a partner and co-founder of the European venture capital firm DN Capital, before which he spent three years working in the European investment team at Advent International. He has a BA in East Asian studies from Princeton University, and received an MBA from Insead.
Mr. Beaton is a Partner of Lexington Partners where he leads the firm’s Asian activities. Mr. Beaton is engaged in the origination and evaluation of secondary purchases of non-U.S. private equity and alternative investments, as well as the firm’s fundraising efforts in the region. Mr. Beaton joined Lexington in 2003 as an investment professional in London and moved to Hong Kong in 2011 to open the Lexington office. Mr. Beaton was previously an analyst in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Beaton graduated from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow with an LLB (Honors) and Universität Hamburg and Universidad Complutense de Madrid with a European masters in economics and law.
Ryoichi Arai joined J. P. Morgan in 1988 as a research analyst in the asset management division in Japan. From 1998, he served as Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer, and Head of Investment Department. From 2009 to 2012, he served as Director of J.P. Morgan Asset Management Japan. Since 2012, he has been CEO of Arai Capital Management, Ltd. In 2014, he was appointed as Trustee in charge of endowment for International Christian University.
He holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from International Christian University and MBA from Waseda Graduate School.
Mr. Ahn joined CD&R in 2011. Previously, he was a partner and head of the Asia-Pacific mergers and acquisitions service line at McKinsey & Company. In that capacity, he worked closely with management teams from multi-national companies regarding strategies to enter Asian markets, as well as large Asian companies expanding their businesses outside of their home markets. Mr. Ahn helped establish CD&R’s joint venture in China and serves as a partner at the Firm.
Education: Harvard Law School (J.D.), Stanford University (M.S., industrial engineering, B.A., economics)
Managing Partner, Co-Head of Japan, joined CVC in 2015. Atsushi is based in Tokyo and leads our private equity activities in Japan. He is a member of the Asia Private Equity Board and the Asia Executive Committee, a sub-committee of the APEB that oversees and drives our investment activity in the region. Prior to joining CVC, he spent over eleven years at Advantage Partners as a Senior Partner, he led Management and Leveraged BuyOut transactions. Prior to this, he worked for McKinsey & Co., Tokyo, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Atsushi holds a Doctor of Philosophy from Colorado School of Mines, a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from The University of Tokyo.
Joined Advantage Partners in January 2002. Katsuya has been responsible for Advantage Partners’ investor relations, ESG, and middle/back office administration functions since 2018 and is a member of AP’s investment committee for Japan buyouts. As an investment partner prior to assuming the role of CAO, he was responsible for investments including Polygon Pictures Inc., Nihonkaisui Co., Ltd., and Xacti Corporation. After graduating from university, he joined Bain & Company Japan Inc. and was engaged in various strategic and operational projects for clients across broad industry sectors (financial services, software, auto, electronics, and others). He subsequently transitioned into venture investment and incubation activities for e-commerce and software-related start-ups before joining Advantage Partners. Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, Asian Studies, University of Tokyo; Master of Business Administration (MBA), Harvard Business School.
Tim Burroughs is managing editor of Asian Venture Capital Journal, having joined the publication in May 2011. He is responsible for all editorial content put out under the AVCJ brand, including Asian Venture Capital Journal, AVCJtv, AVCJ Awards and AVCJ.com. Tim previously spent five years at China Economic Review, serving as editor-in-chief and then editorial director. Located in Greater China since 2003, during which time he has lived in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong, Tim has been a China-based contributor for publications including The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, BBC and China Daily. Prior to moving to China, he trained and worked as a journalist in the UK. He was honored at the Society of Publishers in Asia awards in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and at the State Street Institutional Press Awards - Asia in 2012.
Kiichiro is a venture capitalist at WERU Investment, the oldest university affiliated venture capital firm in Japan. He leads investment research at the firm, covering a broad range of technology and industry domains. He serves on the board of multiple portfolio companies including LeoLabs and Confidencial, leading startups in the space and cybersecurity domains.
Prior to joining WERU Investment, Kiichiro led technology-focused business development efforts at startups in the US and Japan. He began his career as an aerospace engineer working on spacecraft development at NASA/JPL and industry. Kiichiro holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with Highest Honors from Georgia Tech
Mr. Ferrier is a Managing Partner of Navis Private Credit. Mr. Ferrier has more than 30 years of experience, which includes more than 20 years as a credit investor, portfolio manager and business leader.
Previously he was a Managing Director at BlackRock where he played a pivotal role in building BlackRock’s Asian-Pacific Private Credit business, growing AUM to $700m and developing a successful regional strategy focusing on Southeast Asia and Australia.
Prior to BlackRock, he was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Myo Capital. The fund delivered 14% gross returns. Prior to Myo Capital he was a Director / Investment Committee Member with ADM Capital and a Corporate Finance Executive with Peregrine Capital and SG Warburg Group.
Mr. Ferrier holds an MBA, majoring in Finance and Accounting from Monash University and a Bachelor in Science from the University of South Australia.
Mr. Yuichi Hiromoto has been CEO of JIS Fund II since 2016, and he had also joined in JIS as a part time director overseeing the JIS Fund I since 2010. He has more than 25 years of widely-ranged investment experiences at Mitsubishi Corporation as EVP, Group COO at Industrial Finance, Logistics & Development Group, SVP, Division COO at Industrial Finance Division, as well as founder & CEO at Mitsubishi Corp.-UBS Realty, one of the largest J-REIT asset managers in Japan. During that time, he was a director of the Investment Trusts Association as well as chairperson of the Association for Real Estate Securitization's international committee. He serves as director of the Japan Private Equity Association. He earned a bachelor degree of law from the University of Tokyo, and an MBA degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Hideyuki has broad experience of corporate finance practices, mainly M&As and leads M&A deal originations and execution at KPMG. So far He has led major Japanese companies‘ overseas acquisitions, multinational companies‘ investments into Japan, business divestitures for PE funds, industry consolidation transactions as well as tailor-made solutions for important corporate matters. His broad industry experiences range from technologies, consumer products, industrials, business services, autoparts, renewable energy, real estate, financial services, etc.
Before joining KPMG in 2016, being a senior member at a boutique M&A firm based in Japan, he built and led an Asia-Japan cross border M&A team and created overseas partner networks.
From 2002 to 2013, he was an investment banker at UBS in Tokyo and New York, mainly covering major financial institution clients as well as multinational clients.
Before 2002, he was a senior sell-side research analyst at Goldman Sachs in Japan after he started a professional career at Mizuho Bank.
LLM and Wharton Certificate, University of Pennsylvania Law School, US
Bachelor of Laws, Keio University, Japan
Junya has over 30 years of experience of alternative investment, especially investment in real estate. He started his carrier at a Japanese construction company and led securitization and asset management of real estate owned by the company. He joined KPMG in 1998 and has provided various advisory services in real estate and financial areas. Those advisory services include valuation, due diligence and transaction of real estate, feasibility study of development project, balance sheet restructuring of developer, M&A of real estate company, market entry assistance and real estate securitization.
Bachelor of Law, the Niigata University
MBA degree, Kenan-Flager Business School of the University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill
Licensed Real Estate Broker, granted by the Government of Tokyo
Mr. Kita joined Advantage Partners in 2003 and leads all activities for the Japan Buyout team. Mr. Kita has also directly led many investments including CommunityOne, Katitas, Net Protections, Yaruki Switch Group and Cosmolife. He currently serves as a Director on several investments including Material Group, Energywith, NFC Holdings, Net Japan and Daiho Industrial.
Prior to joining Advantage Partners, Mr. Kita was at Bain & Company Japan and focused on projects in the auto, finance, telecommunications, food products, trading houses, and healthcare sectors. Mr. Kita holds an undergraduate degree from the Faculty of Economics, the University of Tokyo, and an MBA from University of California, Berkeley.
Megumi Kiyozuka currently serves as the President & Representative Director of CLSA Capital Partners Japan. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall investment activities of the firm and serves on the board of numerous portfolio companies. Prior to joining the firm in 2006, Mr. Kiyozuka was a Director focused on Japanese buyout opportunities in the consumer, healthcare, and industrial sectors with The Carlyle Group in Tokyo. He spent 6 years at Carlyle and was one of the founding members of Carlyle Japan. Prior to his tenure at The Carlyle Group, he was a Senior Manager at the MUFG Bank, Ltd., where he accumulated over 10 years of experience in M&A and syndicated loans across various countries in Asia. Mr. Kiyozuka received a B.A. in Economics from Shiga University and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley.
Kazushige has over 30 years of experience in the private equity (PE) business. Kazushige is handling a couple of PE-related businesses in parallel.
He joined MCP Asset Management in 2020 and manages 2 fund of funds programs of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government including a climate tech VC program.
In addition, he serves as an advisor for a couple of GPs including Rhone, a global mid-market PE fund, as an independent consultant.
Until 2020, he was Managing Director – Head of Primary Investments at Capital Dynamics (CD), a global private asset management company. He oversaw CD’s PE investments in Asia and also served as a member of the Global PE Investment Committee and Executive Committee.
Before joining CD in 2010, he worked for Mitsubishi Corporation, and as a part of that, he served as President and CEO of Alternative Investment Capital (AIC), a private equity advisory firm in Tokyo. AIC was established in 2002 and has grown AIC as a globally recognized PE investor.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hitotsubashi University.
T.J. Kono joined Unison Capital in 2002. He has managed a number of investments in Japan since Unison’s first fund, then led Unison’s expansion to Korea as its founding member. Today, he serves as a member of both Japan and Korea Investment Committee. He has been involved in Unison’s investments in Drug Eleven (Japan), Mine-Mart (Japan), UCOM (Japan), Nexcon Technology (Korea), Gong cha (Korea)/Royal Tea Taiwan (Taiwan), and Forbes (Japan). In addition to investment role, he oversees Unison Group’s investor relations functions. Prior to Unison Capital, he worked at Merrill Lynch Japan.
Mr. Kono has a B.S/B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis.
Sebastien Lamy is a partner in our Private Equity and M&A practices, based in Tokyo.
Sebastien has spent more than 15 years with us. His consulting engagements have included clients across sectors, including infrastructure, consumer products and retail, telecom and technology. He specializes in growth and portfolio strategy, fund strategy, M&A advisory and due diligence, and innovation.
He also spent several years as managing director of the Singapore-based Keppel Corporation, where he led group strategy, M&A, technology and innovation.
Actively engaged in the non-profit sector, Sebastien is currently on the board of the Community Foundation of Singapore.
He holds an MBA from INSEAD and an undergraduate degree from the HEC School of Management.
Lawrence Lim is a Managing Director at EmergeVest, with responsibilities across investment origination, execution, and portfolio management.
Mr. Lim has over 15 years of experience across private equity, investment banking and corporate finance. Prior to joining EmergeVest, Mr. Lim was an investment banker with leadership roles across sector coverage, leveraged finance and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), executing over US$50 billion of transactions for corporate and private equity clients globally. Mr. Lim was Head of Transportation and Logistics Investment Banking, Asia at Deutsche Bank, where he spent seven years across offices in New York and Hong Kong as part of the Industrials & Infrastructure Investment Banking, Consumer & Retail Investment Banking, and M&A divisions. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. Lim worked at Nomura, UBS and Wachovia Securities.
Mr. Lim graduated from the University of Virginia with a BSc (Distinction) in Systems and Information Engineering.
Kathy is the former Vice Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan and Chief Japan Equity Strategist. Her groundbreaking ʻWomenomicsʼ research spurred the Japanese government to promote gender diversity, and she has advised corporations on governance and diversity best practices. She has an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and an AB from Harvard.
Matthew Michelini is Partner, Head of Asia-Pacific at Apollo and a member of the Firm’s Leadership Team. Matt joined Apollo in 2006 in Private Equity and has played a pivotal role in the creation and success of many of Apollo’s largest growth initiatives, including Athene, Hybrid Value, Apollo Dedicated Insurance Program, Natural Resources, and the development of the Financials Group. Matt serves as Investment Chair for Apollo’s Hybrid Value business and on the board of directors of Athene Holding Ltd. and Venerable Holdings, and previously served on the boards of Aleris Corporation, Metals USA, Noranda Aluminum, One Main Financial, and Warrior Met Coal. Previously, Matt was a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Lazard Frères & Co.
David Milstein is the head of Eight Roads Ventures Japan, the venture capital and principle investment business for Fidelity in Japan. Early in his career, David worked for Asahi Glass and then was a founder of Japan Transaction Partners. He then joined the Walt Disney Company Japan where as VP of the Interactive Media Group, he was responsible for building and launching the Disney Mobile MVNO service. This business drove the division to its largest revenue and profit ever. He earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jumpei Ogura is a Managing Director of Carlyle’s Japan Buyout team, and leads the team’s investments in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) sectors. He is based in Tokyo.
Prior to joining Carlyle in 2006, Mr. Ogura was an Associate Director at UBS Investment Bank Tokyo in the Financial Institutions Group. During his career, he spent two years in the New York office focusing on bank and asset manager transactions.
Mr. Ogura received his B.A. from Keio University.
Mr. Ogura serves on the Board of Directors of Money Square Holdings, Inc., and AOI TYO Holdings Inc.
He previously served as a board member for ARUHI Corporation, Simplex Inc., Walbro Co., Ltd., and a Corporate Auditor for Chimney Co., Ltd. and Tsubaki Nakashima Co., Ltd.
Tetsu Onitsuka joined EQT Partners in October 2021 and is a partner in the EQT Private Capital Asia team.
Prior to joining EQT, Tetsu was a founding member and Managing Director of Japan Post Investment Corporation, which managed approximately USD 1 billion in private equity funds. Prior to Japan Post Investment, he worked at TPG Capital for over ten years, ultimately running TPG’s Japan business. He also previously worked as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo.
Tetsu received a Bachelor of Arts with High Distinction from Harvard College, and a Master of Business Administration with High Distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School.
Executive Officer, Head of Buyout Investments. Naoki joined JPIC from Revamp Corporation, where he was Chief Investment Officer. He was previously with Unison Capital and an Attorney with Nishimura & Asahi. He has been involved in numerous Private Equity deals through the entire deal lifecycle from sourcing to exit, and also has been involved in numerous M&A transaction as a lawyer. He holds a Law degree from Chuo University and is an Attorney at Law.
Lincoln Pan is a Partner of PAG, a leading Asia-based alternative investment fund managing over US$50bn in capital. He is a co-head of the Private Equity strategy where he leads the non-China Investment Team and the Operations team and is a member of the Investment Review Committee. He is also a member of the PAG Group Management Committee.
Lincoln has led work for many of PAG’s overseas investments, including Patties and Vesco, Cordina Foods, Unispace, Edelweiss Financial Group, Rex Airways, Acme Formulation, Gamot API, Craveable Brands, Joyson Safety Systems, Cushman & Wakefield, Lexmark International, Home Credit China, Fenix Technologies, Food Union Group, The Cheesecake Shop and Young Toys. He is on the public board of Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) where he chairs the Nomination & Governance Committee and is a member of the Compensation Committee and Regional Express (ASX: REX) where he sits on the Audit Committee.
Prior to joining PAG, Lincoln was Regional CEO, Greater China for Willis Towers Watson. He previously worked with Advantage Partners, the leading private equity firm in Japan, GE Capital, McKinsey & Company and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Lincoln holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Williams College. He has previously qualified to practice law in the State of New York.
Tomoya Shiraishi co-founded Phronesis Partners, a Japanese private equity firm focusing on small-cap control investments with its differentiated strategy for value creation by supporting further growth of portfolios companies. Since the firm launched the first fund in 2015, it has built a promising investment track record. Its portfolio includes T.N., a leading nail polishing salon chain and FLAVA, a leading online men’s apparel company.
Mr. Shiraishi started his career at JAFCO in 1986. He gained experience in venture capital in Silicon Valley and Asian countries for more than ten years and he led the buyout investment team in Japan as CIO until he left the firm in 2005. Early venture portfolio included ResMed, a U.S. developer of medical equipment for sleep-disordered breathing, which is now listed at $8.0 billon market cap. The buyout portfolio included metal coatings specialist Tocalo, the first privatization in Japan led by a financial sponsor. The company went public with $250 million market cap.
Prior to co-founding Phronesis, Mr. Shiraishi was the head of Japan office of Permira, a leading global private equity firm. At Permira, he led the acquisition of Arysta LifeScienece at $2.2 billion.
He also has a profound knowledge about social impact investment. He founded Social Investment Partners, the first full-scale venture philanthropy organization in Japan. He is also a member of the national advisory board of G8 Impact Investment Task Force.
Mr. Shiraishi holds a bachelor of law from Hitotsubashi University in 1986.
Shunsuke Tanahashi is Head of Partners Group's Tokyo office and Head of Partners Group Japan Kabushiki Kaisha, Client Solutions for Japan as part of the Asian Client Solutions business unit. He was a member of Expert Group Member of PRI in 2005, and was chairing PE Working Group from 2013 to 2019, and an advisory board member under PRI Japan network. He has 26 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he was CEO of Ark Totan Alternative, and worked for Ant Capital, Goldman Sachs Asset Management Tokyo, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank, and Research Institute for Pensions and Policies on Aging (RIPPA). He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a bachelor's degree from Tokyo University.
Kazuaki Tokuyama is a Partner, Managing Director and a Founding Member of NSSK. Before founding NSSK, he had worked for TPG Japan, Ltd. since 2006. He has played vital roles in virtually all of the investments by NSSK and TPG in Japan since 2006 and has provided leadership in the execution of a majority of such deals. Kazuaki also played an active role in the implementation of operating initiatives across various NSSK and TPG investee companies in Japan. Prior to TPG, Kazuaki was a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co., Ltd. Prior to Merrill Lynch Japan, Kazuaki was a CPA at Deloitte Tohmatsu, a “Big Four” accounting firm. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Keio University and his EMBA degree from INSEAD. He is formerly a business trustee of Japan’s bankruptcy court.
Jim Verbeeten leads Bain & Company’s Private Equity and Financial Investor practice in Tokyo. He has more than 20 years of management consulting experience. Jim advises private equity clients on commercial due diligence assignments in a variety of industries and has supported clients with fund strategy and performance improvement of their portfolio companies. Jim also leads the development of Bain’s annual Japan Private Equity report. He first joined Bain's Amsterdam office in 1999 and has worked in Europe, North America and Asia. He has been based out of the Tokyo office since 2007.
Reijiro (Ray) Yamamoto, a founding Partner of Integral has over 20 years of experience in investment banking activities including domestic and cross-border M&A, MBOs, LBOs, going-private transactions, debt-restructuring, workouts of multi-national insolvent companies and sales of non-performing loans in Japan, Europe and the US. He is extremely knowledgeable on deal financing issues, having arranged, structured, negotiated financing for numerous transactions.
Mr. Yamamoto began his career with Mitsui Bank (the current Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)) in 1984. In 1990, he joined AT Kearney as a management consultant in Chicago and subsequently, he moved to London in 1991, where he engaged in Sakura Bank’s (currently SMBC’s) structured finance. After 7+ years in London, he returned to Japan in 1998 and joined Sakura Bank’s Mergers and Acquisitions Department (currently SMBC’s M&A firm) where he was in charge of the cross-border M&A group. In 2000, he joined Unison Capital, one of the first buyout funds in Japan. When he was with Unison Capital, he played a key role in the success of Unison’s first fund. He provided advisory services to his portfolio companies often taking on the director role at the companies in which the fund invested.
While at GCA, he structured and closed the MBO of World Co., Ltd., the largest MBO in Japan and also led a lot of landmark M&A deals of Japan such as a US$19 billion worth merger between Hankyu and Hanshin railway companies. He was also an investment committee of Fund I of Mezzanine Corporation, a 100% subsidiary of GCA and the first independent Mezzanine investment firm in Japan.
Eiji Yatagawa (Tokyo) joined KKR in 2006 and is a Partner on the Private Equity team. He is on the Board of Directors of PHC Holdings (formerly Panasonic Healthcare), Koki Holdings (formerly Hitachi Koki), Seiyu Holdings, dataX (formerly From Scratch), NETSTARS, Transphorm, and Yayoi. Mr. Yatagawa was also previously involved with KKR’s investments in Unisteel (Singapore), Intelligence, AlphaTheta (formerly Pioneer DJ), Marelli Holdings (formerly Calsonic Kansei), and Kokusai Electric (formerly Hitachi Kokusai Electric). From 2010 to 2012, he worked in KKR's Hong Kong office. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Yatagawa was with Goldman Sachs & Co.'s investment banking team, based in New York and Tokyo, where he focused on the telecommunications, media, and technology sector and was involved in a number of mergers and acquisitions as well as financing projects. He holds a B.S. and an M.S. from the University of Tokyo.
Masa Yoshizawa is Representative Director and Partner of The Longreach Group, Inc. (“LGI”) which he co-founded in 2003. LGI is a Tokyo based consulting firm that provides investment consulting services in Japan with a focus on the mature industrial and technology, business services, consumer related sectors, and financial services.
Mr. Yoshizawa’s lead responsibilities include investment strategy, advisory on business development, research, and execution of opportunities in Japan. Mr. Yoshizawa has had key origination and advisory roles in conglomerate divestitures such as the acquisition and exit of OCC Corporation, SANYO Electric Logistics, Hitachi Via Mechanics, Sol-Plus Group, Primo Japan, Nippon Outsourcing Corporation, C-United, Fujitsu Component and Japan Systems. He is involved in management of the businesses he advises and is a member of the board.
Before founding LGI, Mr. Yoshizawa was Managing Director and Head of Technology and Healthcare Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley in Japan, where he focused on advising large Japanese conglomerates on execution of major carve-outs of non-core businesses in the semiconductor, computer industrial technology and other healthcare related areas. Before joining Morgan Stanley, he spent seven years at Robertson, Stephens & Company as Managing Director and Head of the Tokyo office where he established its start-up operations in Tokyo including investment banking, equity sales and asset management business. Mr. Yoshizawa started his banking career at The
Sumitomo Bank, Tokyo.
Mr. Yoshizawa holds a Bachelor of Laws from Hokkaido University and was Valedictorian of his class of 1984. He served as Chairman of the Japan Private Equity Association in 2015-2017, and is an active member of Japan Association of Corporate Executives.
Emre is General Partner at Globis Capital Partners, leading investments in IT startups targeting digital transformation of various industries. His portfolio includes Photosynth (TSE 4379), GLM (electric vehicle startup, acquired), Sensyn Robotics (drone software), MFS (mortgage technology platform), New Standard (digital media agency), Global Mobility Service (auto loan, IoT), Shippio (digital freight forwarder), CADDi (procurement platform for manufacturing parts), Matsuri Technologies (vacation rental operator), Estie (commercial real estate database), Leaner Technologies procurement and spend management SaaS）, Ascend (vertical SaaS for trucking companies), and Facilo (vertical SaaS for real estate brokers).
Prior to joining Globis Capital Partners, Emre worked for Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting (Tokyo) and KPMG Management Consulting (Tokyo), where he specialized in overseas expansion and Post Merger Integration.
He teaches at Globis University Graduate School of Management (MBA). Emre graduated from Harvard Business School (MBA) and Ohio State University.