Alternative Investment Awards 2017

www.wealthandfinance-intl.com 27 Management Co., Ltd. Company: Stats Investment Management Co., Ltd. Name: Shogo Sekimura CEO & Representative Director Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.stats.co.jp Address: COI Hirakawa-Cho Bldg. 7F, 1-7-20 Hirakawa-Cho, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 102-0093 Japan Telephone: +81 3 6658 4361 AI170019 Stats Investment Stats Investment Management Co., Ltd. (Stats) is a hedge fund manager based in Japan. We caught up with Masahiko Iwai to learn more. Established in April 2005, Stats specialises in managing Japanese Equity Long/Short strategies. The firm’s flagship investment offering is the Ginga Service Sector (GSS) Fund, which is a Cayman unit trust established in June2006. The strat- egy itself largely concentrates on the IT and Service sectors as sources of alpha. In addition, it also focuses on medium and small size stocks which are not widely covered by analysts, so that original research by Stats can generate alpha unexploited by the market. Masahiko discuss- es the fund’s investment strategy in more detail. “Here at Stats, our investment philosophy believes that companies that are not widely covered by analysts provide greater opportunities for gen- erating alpha through proprietary research, and therefore opportunities to exploit inefficiencies in stock pricing are greater when market liquidity is high. Additionally, concentrating on sectors and companies with experience and knowledge is essential in understanding the businesses and products of invested companies. These sectors are among the few that are dynamic enough to change its business and pursue growth opportunities. “Alongside this, we also believe that risk management skills are equally important to achieve superior returns. We limit our individual stock exposure to maximum 5% (under normal circumstances 3%).” Ultimately, Stats’ investment management is supported by members with long experience and deep insights. CIO Toru Hashizume is one of Stat’s founding members. He started his career as a sell side analyst with one of the major research institute in Japan and specialized in the IT and Service sectors for more than 8 years. It is the vast experience of its members that sets the firm apart from its competitors and marks it out as the best option for clients, as Masahiko is proud to conclude. “Overall, the combination of our solid investment philosophy and expe- rienced staff has produced extremely good performance over the past 10 years. With no single negative year, GSS Fund’s flagship Yen share class has recorded an annualized return of 13.81% with an annualized risk of 8.55%, during the period of June 2006 to February 2017. This return itself, along with the longevity of our track record, makes Stats stand out above competition. This achievement was also highly recog- nized by various awards in 2016. Currently Stats manages near $250 million in assets under the GSS strategy, and its client base is spread across various regions and various investor types globally.” Best Long/Short Hedge Fund Manager - Japan & Best Japan Equity Long/Short Fund (Since Inception): GSS Fund