Opalesque Roundtable: Japanese hedge fund managers upbeat on outlook, 22 funds launched in 2009

Online, March 8, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Tokyo, March 8th 2010: Opalesque, the world's largest subscription-based publisher covering the alternative investment industry, has launched the 27th issue in a series of regional roundtable forums, the "Opalesque 2010 Japan Roundtable".

Matthias Knab, founder of Opalesque and internationally recognized expert on hedge funds and alternatives, moderates the Opalesque Roundtables. Each Roundtable unites leading hedge fund managers and other finance experts for an insightful and candid discussion.

The Opalesque Japan 2010 Roundtable is a detailed, 28-page report that captures the knowledge and insight of that country's leading hedge fund managers through a candid discussion of Japan's economy and its growing hedge fund industry,
The Roundable can be downloaded for free at http://www.opalesque.com/RT/RoundtableJapan2010.html.
In 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan took control of the Lower House with a historic election victory, a turning point in post-war Japan. This marked the end of the "Japan Inc." era - a change exemplified when the government allowed the national flag carrier, Japan Airlines go bust. This movement has caused a series of wide-ranging ripple effects for the country, many of which are creating profit-making opportunities for hedge fund managers.

Investors say 2009 was a very positive year for the Japanese hedge fund industry. While the more pessimistic macro numbers are well-known - population decline, debt, and deflation etc. - many absolute return managers were still able to make money in Japan. Twenty-two new hedge funds were launched last year alone in a wide array of strategies, including funds focusing on the Japan credit space.

Stock-pickers, long/short and credit-focused hedge fund managers are outspokenly optimistic. Japanese firms have cut costs to the extreme so that if in 2010 sales grow just by 3%, earnings for the top 300 companies can go up by 50% or more. In addition, managers predict a plethora of opportunities following (and in some cases preceding) the instruction of IFRS in Japan.

Other subjects covered at the Roundtable included relevant questions and topics like:
• Japanese institutions are well-known as huge holders of foreign bonds like US treasuries. Are they now reducing their bond exposures against hedge funds?
• Since 1945, Japan went through 14 business cycles. How can these cycles be modeled?
• What lessons from Japan's last twenty years can be applied to the U.S. and Europe going forward?
• How comes that probably until 2020 Japan will be able to afford its low interest environment?
• What does the recent technology upgrade by the Tokyo Stock Exchange to
their Arrowhead System at the start of this year mean for hedge funds and investors?
• Japanese individual investors are more contrarian investors, while foreign investors are usually trend followers
• How is Japan coping with the rise of Asia and China? What are the opportunities for Japan in green technologies?

The 2010 Opalesque Japan Roundtable was sponsored by NYSE Liffe and took place in their Tokyo office with:

• Hidemichi Watanabe, Founder, CEO, WERU Asset Management
• Dr. Izumi Kazuhara, Chief Representative, NYSE Liffe
• John Inamine, Head of Alternative Investment Strategies, SPARX Asset
Management
• Masahiro Koshiba, Founder, CEO, United Managers Japan
• Paul MacGregor, Director, NYSE Liffe
• Rory Kennedy, COO, Rogers Investment Advisors
• Toshihiro Hirao, Co-Founder, Asuka Asset Management

The 2010 Roundtable Series is sponsored by Customhouse Group and Taussig Capital.

The 2010 Opalesque Japan Roundtable can be downloaded here:
http://www.opalesque.com/RT/RoundtableJapan2010.html

All other previously published Opalesque Roundtable Scripts can be accessed here:
http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archiveRT

About Opalesque:

In 2003, with the publication of its daily Alternative Market Briefing, Opalesque successfully launched an information revolution in the hedge fund media space: "Opalesque changed the world by bringing transparency where there was opacity and by delivering an accurate professional reporting service." - Nigel Blanchard, Culross. This hybrid financial news service, which combines proprietary industry news stories and filtered third party reports, has been credited by many industry insiders with delivering precise, accurate, and vital information to a notoriously guarded audience.

Each week, Opalesque sends out over 650,000 editions of its eleven publications to a global readership in over 170 countries. Opalesque is the only daily hedge fund publisher which is actually read by the elite managers themselves (http://www.opalesque.com/op_testimonials.html).