Infralogic Investors Forum - Japan
The premier infrastructure investors forum in Japan
The Conrad, Tokyo and online
2021 Speaker Lineup
Senior Industry Professionals

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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.
Mika Ohbayashi is Director at Renewable Energy Institute* since its foundation in August 2011.
Before joining the Institute, she worked in Abu Dhabi for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) as Policy and Project Regional Manager for Asia Oceania. She is one of two founders of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP) and served as Deputy Director for 8 years following its establishment in 2000. She also worked as Advisor for Climate Change Projects and Policies for UKFCO at the British Embassy to Japan. She started her career in the energy field by joining Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center in 1992 She was awarded the Global Leadership Award in Advancing Solar Energy Policy by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) in 2017.

Cyril Cabanes is Managing Director, Infrastructure, Asia Pacific at CDPQ, based in Singapore. In his role, he is responsible for all infrastructure investment activities in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes overseeing a team of ca. 20 investment professionals based in Singapore, Sydney and New Delhi and managing a diversified portfolio including ports, electricity networks, social infrastructure, public transport, renewables and power generation.
Mr. Cabanes has 23 years of experience in global infrastructure. Before joining CDPQ, he was Senior Vice-President, Development at Marubeni Corp. where he led the Asian IPP investment team in Singapore. Previously, he was Director and Portfolio Manager at Deutsche Asset Management’s DWS (formerly known as RREEF Infrastructure) in Sydney, where he was responsible for acquisitions, capital raising and product development for Asia-Pacific. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, he spent 10 years in investment banking and financial markets with RBS (where he was Head of Natural Resources, Power & Utilities for Australia and New Zealand), BNP Paribas and UBS.
Mr. Cabanes graduated with a Masters from ESCP-Europe Business School in Paris and attended the MBA programme at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office (IFFO) and the World Bank’s Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF). He is a non-executive director of Azure Power Global, CLP India and Maple Highways.

Rob Clow is Asia-Pacific Editor for SparkSpread in Sydney, covering energy mergers and acquisitions, project finance and trading in the Asia Pacific region. A financial journalist with over 20 years’ experience in London, New York and Sydney, Clow has previously worked on the staff of the Financial Times, The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, the New York Post and Institutional Investor magazine.

Orestes is responsible for Inframation & Sparkspread’s research coverage in the Asia-Pacific. He analyses infrastructure & energy industry trends by conducting bottom-up research on transactions, equity investors, lenders and advisors in the region. Prior to joining the company in 2018, he researched the Chinese domestic business environment for UK businesses as well as Chinese outbound investments at the China-Britain Business Council in Shanghai. He holds a BA in Chinese & Business Management and a MSc in International Relations.

Derman is a Partner and Co-Head of Ares Infrastructure and Power and a member of the Ares Infrastructure and Power Investment Committee. As the Co-Head of Infrastructure and Power at Ares, he oversees all aspects of strategy, origination, capital deployment and portfolio management across both equity and debt investments in the infrastructure industry. In 2015, Mr. Derman joined Ares Management through the firm's acquisition of Energy Investors Funds, where he was a Partner and had worked for 10 years. From 2002-2005, he was a Manager of Corporate Development at PSEG Power, where he focused on the acquisition and development of power generation and transmission projects as well as spending significant time in the company's commodity trading and international businesses. In addition, Mr. Derman worked as a Senior Financial Analyst in the Acquisition and Development Group at Sunterra Corporation, a publicly traded real estate and resort company. He began his career as a Financial Analyst at Smith Barney, where he was a member of the mergers and acquisitions group. Mr. Derman received a B.A. in Political Science, cum laude, from Duke University as well as an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School in Entrepreneurial Management.

Jonathan joined Octopus Group in 2013 in London, before moving to Australia in 2018. He is responsible for product development and overseeing day to day delivery of Octopus managed investments in Australia. Since joining Octopus, Jonathan has delivered over c$1.4 billion of utility scale renewables debt and equity financings across retail as well as institutional fund mandates.
Jonathan has a BA from Columbia University and a MBA (Distinction) from Oxford University.

Paul joined Pacific Equity Partners in 2017. Prior to joining PEP Paul was Head of Infrastructure, Australia & New Zealand, at AMP Capital where he was responsible for leading the investment activities of the firm's Australia and New Zealand infrastructure teams. Paul has 24 years of principal investment experience, spanning sectors including airports, toll roads, rail, energy utilities, water, health and education. Paul received a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Commerce (with merit) from the University of Wollongong.

Takanori Fukushima has had an extensive career in derivatives and risk management at domestic and global investment banks. He now heads the PPP & Infrastructure Investment Research Department at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Research Institute offering research, consulting and advisory services for PPP & infrastructure investments. Clients include municipal governments engaging in PPP projects. He serves as a member of several government study groups and councils including: expert advisor for the Cabinet Office “PFI Promotion Office,” chairperson for MLIT “Study Group for Real Estate Risk Management,” member of METI “Asia Infrastructure Finance Committee,” MLIT “Study Group for Infrastructure REIT,” and MLIT “Working Group for Securitization of public-owned real estate.”

Robin oversees Asia-Pacific coverage for Inframation. A 22-year news veteran, with 13 of them spent editing financial news, Robin has worked for the world's leading news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. He has been a regular on live television, commenting mainly on Chinese government and central bank policy. At Inframation he is responsible for daily news coverage and analysis written by a team of journalists spread across Greater China, Japan, India, Singapore and Australia.

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.

Mr. Hedberg is chief financial officer for CarVal Investors. In addition to leading finance and operations globally for the firm, Mr. Hedberg also manages capital formation activities, including investor relations and fund financing strategy. He serves on the Executive and Portfolio Investment committees for the firm and co-chairs CarVal’s Responsible Investing committee. Mr. Hedberg joined CarVal in 2002 and has held a variety of financial management positions, including serving as global controller for CarVal’s corporate credit business. Prior to joining CarVal, Mr. Hedberg was with Cargill Inc. and Dain Bosworth. He received his M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas and his B.S. in finance, magna cum laude from the University of Colorado.
CarVal Investors is an established global alternative investment fund manager focused on distressed and credit-intensive assets and market inefficiencies. Since 1987, our experienced team has navigated through ever-changing credit market cycles, opportunistically investing $130 billion in 5,550 transactions across 82 countries. Today, CarVal Investors has approximately $10 billion in assets under management in in corporate securities, loan portfolios, structured credit and hard assets.

Daniel Hu is a Managing Director at China Everbright Limited responsible for overseas infrastructure investments. He has 240 years of experience in investing in the infrastructure and related industries in Asia and Europe. Prior to joining China Everbright Limited, Daniel had worked for JPMorgan, and previously Emerging Markets Partnership - which was the principal adviser to the AIG Infrastructure funds. Daniel serves on the boards or as Chairman of the investee companies; and has led various successful exits of portfolio companies in different jurisdictions. Daniel holds an MBA degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and received his Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Hong Kong. He is a CFA Charterholder.

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.

Morimasa Matsuda is a president and representative director of Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure Co. Ltd (DEI), a subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Group Inc., one of the leading comprehensive financial service firms in Japan. DEI is an investment firm focusing on renewable energy and infrastructure, established in Oct. 2018. Since then DEI rapidly accumulated its invested assets to about $1.2BN as of July. 2021. Before becoming a president of DEI in Apr.2019, Morimasa was a member of the Board and a member of the Audit Committee of Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Morimasa joined Daiwa Securities in 1989 and during his more than 30 years career in Daiwa, he spent about 8 years in Principal Investment and another 8 years in IR & Audit, both help current role.

Takashi previously worked for Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. before he joined KPMG in 2001.
Takashi has been providing tax advisory services with particular focus on M&A / reorganizations related to various sectors, advising clients on tax structures recommended for setting up funds inside / outside Japan (e.g. Singapore, Cayman Islands, Luxemburg) as well as on on-going / closure of funds. His clients are mainly foreign sovereign funds, private equity funds, real estate funds and foreign institutions/multinational companies. Recently Takashi has been assisting in setting up venture capital funds inside/outside Japan as well.
Following introduction of the FIT regime in 2012 and Prior to an increase in interest from investors in healthcare-related assets, Takashi was one of the first tax professionals to advise on this industry. He has developed vast experience in the field and understands the new trends in the market as well as implications of the relevant tax laws.
He has also specialized in the provision of post-transaction bookkeeping, entity administration and tax compliance for entities involved in the tax structuring and M&A transactions, allowing for a seamless and comprehensive service package that ensures accurate implementation after the investment has been made.
More specifically, for real estate (i.e. Logistic and Hotel) / renewable energy assets development projects, Takashi Has been supporting on the set up of Listed / Private REIT and tax compliance.
He returned from a 2.5 year secondment to Italy, where he teamed with Italian and European professionals to support Japanese clients with various investments into Italy as well as with their Italian operations from audit, tax, legal and advisory perspectives.

Kanna leads Private Capital Markets team in Japan where her primary role is to connect Japanese capital to global infrastructure opportunities. Her most recent experiences include successful formation of a partnership with JERA on Formosa 1, 2 and 3 offshore wind projects in Taiwan, and acquisition of Electricity North West in UK by a consortium including Kansai Electric.
Since joining Macquarie in 2013, she has worked on 2 of the first 3 major infrastructure privatisation projects in Japan, Sendai Airport and Aichi Toll Road, as a financial advisor to the winning consortium of each transaction.
Before joining Macquarie, Kanna engaged in commercial lending for non-EU EMEA companies in Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s EMEA headquarter in London for 5 years. Kanna started her career as a business consultant at BaringPoint (currently PwC) where she worked on various business process optimisation projects for Japanese companies.

Anthony Muh is a Senior Partner of H.R.L. Morrison & Co, a specialist investment manager and operator of infrastructure assets. An investment professional with more than 30 years of experience in both traditional and alternative investments. He is responsible for expanding Morrison & Co’s infrastructure investment capabilities outside of its core markets of Australia/New Zealand.
Mr. Muh previously spent over a decade with Citigroup Global Asset Management and Salomon Brothers Asset Management as regional Chief Investment officer. He was a member of its global asset management committee. Mr. Muh also previously headed up the proprietary investment activities in Asia Pacific of Alliance Trust PLC.
Mr. Muh is a Non Executive Director of London listed Utilico Emerging Markets Trust plc, a specialist emerging market infrastructure investment company and was also a former Board of Director of Infratil, a NZ/Australia listed infrastructure company. Mr. Muh is the current Chairman of Asian Corporate Governance Association and an Advisory Board member of Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc. He is a past Chairman and Fellow of Hong Kong Securities and Investments Institute and a past Chairman and Fellow of New Zealand Society of Investment Analyst (now known as INFINZ).

Tony Nakamura is CEO & Representative Director of Canadian Solar Asset Management (CSAM), where he is taking an overall responsibilities for managing PV assets at Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund (CSIF) and private deals. Since he joined CSAM in 2016, he has helped the launch of an IPO and PO for CSIF as well as asset acquisitions. Prior to CSAM, Mr. Nakamura has held various roles in investment banking, online brokerage, property investment and asset management at Yamaichi Securities, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Ishin Hotel REIT Management, Tokio Marine Asset Management and International Healthway. Mr. Nakamura earned a Bachelor of Commerce from Hitotsubashi University in 1983 and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1989.

Keisuke Okano is in charge of Infrastructure investments at ORIX Life Insurance Corporation. Since joining ORIX Life in 2019, he has led the growth of the infrastructure portfolio. In prior role, he was in Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) for 8 years where he took various role there, including he served as portfolio manager for Infrastructure investments from the time when GPIF starts alternative investment.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Waseda University.

金融機関、不動産関連企業、三菱商事・ユービーエス・リアルティにて不動産証券化・企業投資・国内インフラ投資市場の開拓に従事。その後三菱商事にて複数のファンド投資、Global Strategic Investment Alliance(GSIA)でのストラクチャリング、ミドルバック部門を統括。2017年10月より当社管理本部長、2018年9月より投資本部長、2020年1月より現職。京都大学経済学部卒。

Koji Someno is a Manager of Real Asset Fund Investment Division and Private Equity Fund Investment Division of Alternative Investment Department at Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company. Since joining Dai-ichi Life in 2017, he has been in charge of infrastructure investments and private equity investments. Prior to that, he spent about 13 years at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (MUTB), where he was involved in the investments in private equity, infrastructure, real asset and venture funds.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business and Commerce from Keio University.

Kosei Terami joined IFC Asset Management Company (AMC) in 2014. Prior to joining AMC, Mr. Terami spent 9 years at International Finance Corporation (IFC), as Deputy Representative in Tokyo and Investment Officer at Private Equity and Investment Funds Department in Washington DC. Previously, Mr. Terami worked at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and the Sumitomo Bank (currently Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) in New York, Osaka and Tokyo. He holds a LLB from Kyoto University and an MBA from Yale School of Management.

Cecilio Velasco joined KKR in 2012 and is Director on the Asia Pacific Infrastructure team based in Singapore, he covers the infrastructure sector across the Asia Pacific region. During his time at KKR, Mr. Velasco has worked with the Americas and European infrastructure teams and has been involved in KKR's investments globally including Pinnacle Towers, Eco Solutions Group, First Gen, Nitrogen Renewables, NextEra Energy Partners, Acciona Energia Internacional, Bayonne Water, Middletown Water and SSM Solar, among others. Prior to joining KKR, he worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York in the natural resources investment banking division, where he was involved in a variety of merger, acquisition and other corporate advisory transactions. He holds a B.S.B.A. in Finance and Accounting, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University.

Leads Japan Post Bank’s infrastructure investment program and its infrastructure debt program. Prior to joining Japan Post Bank in July 2019, she spent 11 years at the Bank of Japan, where she led various studies on investment activities of institutional investors, and structured one of the Bank’s reserve management programs, among other various roles she held.
Master in Public Administration in International Development of Harvard Kennedy School. Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Tokyo.