Wed, Nov 11, 2026
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Alternative Market Briefing

Pioneering key players set up Japan focused FoFs

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Matthias Knab reports live from the Hedge Funds World conference in Tokyo: Masako Watanabe, Masako Watanabe & Associates, HK said Watanabe & Associates was founded in 1996 and launched in February 2005 a Japan focused FoF. The firm’s clients are mostly Japan and Middle Eastern based individual investors.

Andrew E. Fisch, Portfolio Manager at SSARIS Advisors, USA says creating a FoF in Japan is a different exercise; quantitative Analysis is difficult because of the short track records. The firm has chosen a more qualitative approach in constructing a Japanese focused FoF.

Mr. Fisch also pointed out how the industry has changed since the 80ties. The thinks basically “the returns are out there”, but it has become a tremendous amount of work to screen the managers (which have multiplied) and at the same time to manage your tail risk.

50% of SSARIS’ assets are set up in managed accounts; the Japan focused FoF is not included here because the Japanese markets are still implementing the technology necessary to run managed account.

Ken Shimasaki, Alternative Investment Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Japan explained Sumitomo runs a Japan/Asia focused FoF with 130bln Yen, mostly from Japanese pension fund clients. Mr. Shimasaki thinks the prospects for the future growth for hedge funds and fund of funds is still high.

Jeff Lee, Head of Alternative Asset Management, Nikko Alternative Asset Management Inc., USA said the firm run......................

To view our full article Click here

Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. Opalesque Exclusive: DACH institutions push alternatives to 32.3% of portfolios as hedge funds make a comeback[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Institutional investors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland now hold almost a third of their portfolios in alternative investments, and they are more confident than ever in

  2. KRX chief courts CalPERS for bigger bet on Korea[more]

    Korea Exchange Chairman and CEO Jeong Eun-bo held talks with California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, to promote greater investment in South Korea's capital markets, the bourse operator announced Wednesday. Jeong met with CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Stephen Gilmore.

  3. 755 Unicorns, $8 Trillion: Fifth Era maps the autonomous digital economy[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Fifth Era Partners, a specialized asset manager focused on the convergence of Internet, AI/Agentic and Blockchain technologies, has released the findings of its 13th Bia

  4. Opalesque Exclusive: "Enough beta plays" - how Fasanara builds an alpha-only multi-strategy platform[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Most multi-strategy funds promise diversification. Fewer can explain why their return streams should stay independent when markets turn. In an Opalesque SkillsLab investor

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: Governance, Scale, and Boutique Resilience in a Consolidating Hedge Fund Industry[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: The hedge fund industry has undergone significant consolidation in recent years, with capital increasingly concentrated among large multi-strategy platforms. Yet boutique m