The Rise of the Family Office: A US-Japan Dialogue

Family offices are one of the fastest-growing areas in the investment world. In the US, family offices have long been a mainstay for maintaining and growing generational wealth, offering a broad set of investment tools including private investments. Traditionally in Japan, larger Japanese families have kept their wealth in one company, maintaining ownership through complex holdings. However, that approach is beginning to change, as younger generations look to forge their own paths and rising entrepreneurs in Japan begin to diversify their wealth generation.

Come to this event to hear an exchange of opinions between leaders from the US and Japan working in family offices, exploring what each side can mutually learn while forging a new future. We will explore questions including:

As the family office emerges in Japan, will it borrow from the existing Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) approach, or will Japan tailor its own approach?

Given the legacy of family offices in Boston, what might investors from Japan learn from Boston family offices?

Are younger generations in Japan ready to invest outside of the traditional family business model? And what pressures are mounting to diversify away from traditional control ownership?

What challenges and opportunities do the current Japanese Regulatory and Tax codes create for family offices in Japan?

How can owner-managers of Japanese public companies respond to aggressive corporate activism for shareholder returns while retaining generational control and minimizing tax leakage?

As Management Buyouts (MBOs) and Family Foundations rapidly gain traction in Japan, are they proving to be viable long-term solutions for family continuity—or do they introduce unexpected governance and tax friction?

Ticketed and open to the public (pre-registration required). Event will be hybrid with online admission via Zoom also available.

Drew Edwards – Presenter

Drew Edwards is the Head of GMO’s Usonian Japan Equity team and a portfolio manager for the team’s products. Drew Edwards is a partner of the firm. Prior to joining GMO in 2020, he served as portfolio manager, Chief Investment Officer (CIO), and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Usonian Investments. Drew has been a member of the Usonian team since 2008. Prior to founding Usonian, he was Managing Director and portfolio manager at Advisory Research, Inc.

Previously, he had also been an investment professional at Taiyo Pacific Partners, an activist fund backed by CalPERS and W. L. Ross that focuses on Japanese equities, an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, and a finance executive in the health care industry. He earned his BA in International Business from Sophia University (Tokyo) and his MBA and JD from Northwestern University. Drew is proficient in Japanese.

Shoji Tsuboyama – Presenter

Shoji Tsuboyama received his BS in Urban Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1988 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1996. He spent over 25 years in investment banking at Salomon Brothers and UBS in Tokyo, advising Japanese corporations and founders on M&A and capital markets transactions, including engagements with US institutional investors, private equity firms, hedge funds, and family offices.

In 2018, he co-founded CapitaLink Partners, an advisory firm. He is also a Project Professor at the University of Tokyo's Center for Advanced Capital Markets Research, where he recently led a policy proposal on governance and succession issues facing Japanese family-owned businesses. He is a Board Member of the International House of Japan and a Director of its US affiliate.

Brian Chiappinelli – Moderator

Brian is an experienced professional in the asset management industry with over 25 years of broad asset class experience and over 15 years in PE Secondaries, coinvestments, and primary funds including the build out of fund vehicles and solutions. Brian has been involved with impact investing. Previously, he worked with growth equity, debt, and infrastructure projects in the impact space as the president of Impact Direct Advisors, a registered broker-dealer, as well as being an owner in a global public equity manager. Brian's career has demonstrated a proven track record of success in private equity and multi-asset class management, ESG/Impact positioning, institutional and retail distribution, and new product and vehicle development. Earlier in his career he had direct experience with Japanese and US market prospects and clients, including defined benefit, endowment and foundation, public, and Taft-Hartley plans, as well as tier 1, 2, and 3 investment management consultants.

Presented by the Japan Society of Boston with the International House of Japan.

In partnership with the American Friends of the International House of Japan.