Symphony Financial Partners “engaged” deep value Japanese equity strategy has delivered over 24% annualized returns for the past 8 years and in the high teens for over 16 years. And the story goes that they are just getting started.
John Trammell first moved to Japan in the late 1970s. In this Opalesque.TV BACKSTAGE video, he explains why he expects this run to continue for many more years, allowing investors the full realization of value they may have missed the last two decades:
- Changing of The Guard: Many new leaders in Japan’s corporate leadership don’t always follow the old ways. Many have a firmer belief in Stewardship and Governance Codes
- New policies push for release & re-investment of corporate cash of $4.5 trillion (retail is believed to own another $15-20 trillion)
- Hundreds of firms have negative net enterprise value (cash > stock market valuation)
- New stock exchange listing requirements will “change the way the stock markets operate in Japan” and contribute to a new corporate culture in Japan
- 90% of listed Japan equities have a market cap of less than $2bn: “This small and mid cap universe is not the Japan most people pay attention to.” This segment will see a massive wave of M&A and MBOs.
Global private equity houses see same opportunity and raise Japan funds, creating a new group of buyers for Symphony’s portfolio companies. At the same time, longtime success in Japan can only be achieved through excellence in stock selection. It's certainly not about “cheap stocks”, and successful investors need to be “value trap escape artists” at the same time.
Another clue to Symphony's success is their investment style: Engagement, but not Activist: “We don’t buy anything before the management is not already on board with what we are going to do.” The firm is in a great position as Japanese companies AND other investor groups are pro-actively soliciting Symphony as strategic partner. The company, which was founded by David Baran and Kazuhiko Shibata in 2000, is seen as a “safe Japanese pair of hands” with a “rare level” of understanding Japanese small to mid cap firms’ management teams.
Hear John also speak about:
- Why Symphony’s portfolio companies are of great interest to PE firms
- How is Japan dealing with its demographics challenge?
- Are these changes being pushed top down or is there a societal consensus forming and effort for change?
- The “100% Investor” paradigm
John Trammell is Head of Global Strategic Relationships of Symphony Financial Partners. Before joining Symphony, he was a Managing Director/Institutional Sales with Solovis LLC. Prior to Solovis, John was a member of the management committee at Novus Partners. Before moving to the FinTech industry, John was the Global Co-Head of Asset Management at Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors which acquired Cadogan Management, LLC. He also spent seven years at Investor Select Advisors where he served as the Chief Executive Officer. John received a BA in History and Economics from DePauw University and studied at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan.
Symphony's two co-founders are David Baran and Kazuhiko Shibata. David has over 33 years of experience investing in the Asian markets. Prior to founding Symphony, David held senior management positions at Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays Capital in Tokyo. David graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters in International Finance from Columbia University. He has lived in Japan for over 30 years and is fluent in Japanese.
Kazuhiko Shibata has over 35 years of professional investment experience. Prior to founding Symphony, Kazuhiko worked at Nomura Securities in both the US and Japan as a senior advisor for major corporate clients and principle transactions. Kazuhiko holds a B.A. in Law from Hitotsubashi University and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. He is also a member of the New York Bar and is fluent in English.
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Symphony Financial Partners “engaged” deep value Japanese equity strategy has delivered over 24% annualized returns for the past 8 years and in the high teens for over 16 years. And the story goes that they are just getting started.
John Trammell first moved to Japan in the late 1970s. In this Opalesque.TV BACKSTAGE video, he explains why he expects this run to continue for many more years, allowing investors the full realization of value they may have missed the last two decades:
- Changing of The Guard: Many new leaders in Japa ...more
