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Written by Mariko Katsumura
TOKYO (Reuters) – On the face of it, two seem unlikely to inspire confidence as the geniuses behind Japan’s new stock fund: one, a former comedian and the other, a everyone is a stereotypical “otaku”.
But their mission fund, announced Wednesday, may be the Christmas gift fans of one-time star Toshiya Imura have been waiting for since he revealed his plans for that was about two years ago.
The 40-year-old father of three gained notoriety and a devoted following by turning his stock research idea into 6.5 billion yen ($1.5 million). 41,4) as an individual investor.
His reputation was such that whenever his name appeared in the management file as a major shareholder, the company’s stock would increase, just as the fans wanted ” Imura stocks” to recover his valuable investment bet.
But Imura had bigger dreams: to become a successful investor to get more Japanese to profit from the stock market – a goal that coincides with the government’s efforts to herd about $6.5 trillion of household income in financial investments.
She began her affair with Keizo Takeiri, a former Goldman Sachs analyst, to become her partner in crime.
Imura says he was immediately impressed by Takeiri’s photographic imagination, analytical talent and incredible geekdom when they first met in 2020.
“His skills were at the next level,” Imura told Reuters in an interview this month alongside Takeiri and an official from fund manager Fundnote.
Takeiri had also caught the eye of Akira Katayama, a popular internet gamer turned billionaire whose invitation to work at a hedge fund was further proof of his analytical skills.
Known to his former colleagues at Goldman as a “stock otaku”, Takeiri, 38, says his years at Tokyo University were spent skipping classes, playing mahjong and researching stock. Exercise was low on his priority list.
“Sometimes he appears with holes in his clothes and incredibly long fingernails,” Imura teased. “Maybe he doesn’t care or he doesn’t care? He’s a very strange person.”
Those feelings are the same.
Takeiri said Imura would send him 200 Slack messages on a typical day but disappear for days when he logged into the company’s balance sheet.
“The energy with which he throws himself into finding what he wants to know is out of this world.”
The duo’s new fund will go on sale on January 10 and will have an initial investment of 10 billion yen.
($1 = 157.1000 yen)
