Analyst opportunities in Japan? people, related, comment, like

gjcxc

Hey guys,

Sorry if this is a bit ignorant, but I was wondering what the market opportunity is like for equity analysts over in Japan. I've been repeatedly told by people that the job opportunities in ER or AM related fields are nowhere near as good as they are in North America. My Japanese is pretty fluent since I lived there for a long time so I was thinking maybe it would be easier to find an entry ER job there rather than where I am now(Vancouver, Canada). Can anyone comment on the job scene in Japan at the moment?

Thanks for any inputs

Unforseen

Palantir Wrote:
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> bromion - what are you doing now, are you running
> that new fund?

Yes, it's a small portfolio within the master fund, between $25-50M. I hired three people with language and investing skills, and we travel through most of Asia looking for good stocks. That takes up most of my time, but I still help with the fund's US efforts as needed. We took big gains in the US earlier this year and IMO there isn't a lot worth doing right now domestically.

It's been a good experience so far. I feel comfortable analyzing companies and stocks, but there is so much more to good investing than that, and it's been fun to learn about the trading elements and overall portfolio management aspects of running a fund, as well as forex hedging.

zbird2134

Finalnub Wrote:
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> I see. Thanks for the elaborate answer! Any one
> else familiar with the situation there?


dont do it man, you will end up being a gajin foreva.

torontoanalyst

bromion - what are you doing now, are you running that new fund?

MarginofSafety

I see. Thanks for the elaborate answer! Any one else familiar with the situation there?

IAmNeil

I spend 50-75% of my time in Asia and have pretty up-to-date information about most of the major markets.

The hiring market in Japan is definitely picking up relative to earlier this year (pre-quake) --or was at least prior to the recent volatility, although it's obviously a smaller market than in the US, and in my opinion, more competitive. There are a good number of SS ER jobs at all of the usual suspects if you can speak, read and write Japanese fluently -- if not, you're out of luck, because hardly anyone in the country speaks English, and none of the investor materials are in English, save for the largest companies such as Toyota and Sony. HF jobs are extremely rare and hard to come by and there seems to be high turnover of HFs in general within Japan, so it can be a risky career (or I should say, even riskier). I'm less familiar with the AM side of the business, but I know with certainty that there are not a lot of mutual funds in the country (I think there are about 75 total), and I think, few large buyside shops -- Sparx comes to mind, and maybe Tokio Marine (a large insurance company with buyside operations), but I'm having a hard time thinking of others.

You might have a hard time getting into the buyside, because a lot of these jobs have been offshored from Japan in recent years to places like Hong Kong and Singapore for tax reasons. The remaining jobs are extremely picky about credentials, so if you didn't go to an Ivy League school, University of Tokyo, or Keio, you are probably going to struggle. You could say that about the US as well, but I think it's even worse in Japan from what I gathered talking to colleagues that are native to Tokyo.

M&A and PE is also pretty tough in Japan, with a lot of PE shops closing down recently, and a number of M&A firms scaling back. There are not a lot of deals to be done in Japan.

My impression is that the overall quality of the jobs is pretty good if you can get one, probably not materially different from the US or anywhere else.

At any rate, I would think hard about trying to get into Japan -- I've studied that market, as well as all the other Asian markets, pretty extensively. Everyone knows about the demographics story, the high debt, and the broken government, but IMO people underestimate how socialist the country is, and how badly that hamstrings their capital markets / general economy. Additionally, most of the ambitious, young financiers I've met in Tokyo are trying to get OUT of the country as fast as possible (and not just because they have a radioactive food supply). Just my two cents, but I would steer clear.