Friday Feature Book Review: "Landed": Christopher Dillon (Real Estate Tips) ランデッド: クリストファー・ディロンによる日本の不動産投資

This book is a great starting point for both individuals & institutions new to Japanese real estate. The subject requires solid research like any proper investment. This is confirmed by the CEO of a Japanese developer who says so right on the front cover. Indeed, even local Japanese people would learn a lot from the very distinctive world, that is Japanese real estate. The writing is well suited to those who are adults who have had past experience with various investments including real estate. This is not a simple book for a first time home buyer. The overview is a much wider theme concerned with finding yield and value from passive income and appreciation. 

The best thing about this book is the collection of detailed highlights so unique to Japan. Many of them can really impact price. The details are very well researched and really valuable. Disclosure to prospective buyers is very clear which has rules that need to be respected. However, there are rules and there are guidelines. Some are easy to be worked around but many are not. The author Chris Dillon, helps you feel more confidence with any future purchase in Japan, by clearly researching a wide range of solid reasons.

One great example involves the impact of a death in a condo complex and it impact on price. You learn that if a person dies inside the condo unit, only the new buyer of the unit, needs to be told legally as part of any sale. However, if a person dies in the elevator or common space of the building, every possible buyer of every unit would have to be told. I later learned that owners have been known to move bodies slightly off property after heart attack victims collapse as a result. 

There are so many of these great little colorful tidbits to gain. I have heard such things before and have also heard about how now condo owners sometimes move elderly people who die. They move them nearby just outside the property, in order to avoid these resale price reductions. There are a lot of similar very valuable points for both general real estate investment and Japanese market opportunities in particular. There are only 207 pages of text, but it is all very concentrated and enjoyable reading. This is not a dry text book, but a very interesting way to learn about how to make money in Japanese real estate. You feel a lot of comfort after reading many of the most important dos & don'ts.

Homes, land, new condo or pre-owned, warehouse and offices or stores, all have appeal and can be figured out. One of the best insights contained is how both local and international investors would want very different real estate for very different reasons. This is often reflected in the price, and may touch on some future arbitrage values that may also change over time. The best thing for sure is the lack of restrictions to investors. Any investor with any passport, can buy any real estate in Japan - if they have the cash. 

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that really impact any reader are:

1) There is distinct real estate consumer with clear local tastes that differ from foreign buyers. Arbitrage can be found if you know what to look for especially with the age of a building.

2) The financial returns of new versus pre-owned real estate has a clear premium for the later. Local investors prefer new, but foreign investors benefit from and prefer resold unit value.

3) The location of one property can also differ in appeal between local and foreign investors greatly. Knowing those differences and taking advantage of them is financially worthwhile.

Unlike most of Asia or Australia, Japan is one of the most open real estate markets in the world. The record keeping of every piece of land or building is extremely detailed and gives amazing detail and comfort to any investor on true ownership. Blockchain technology will be used from Q3, 2018 to improve this process even further. It is getting increased attention from overseas investors, especially from China and Thailand based investors, many of which are looking to make a solid safe yield return. Given that real estate in central Tokyo has increased by 100% in certain areas since January 2013 alone, Abenomic themed returns do seem possible. Now available in ebook form on Amazon & Kobo. Highly recommended. 

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, conferences and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance! 

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 50,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、50,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
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      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Book Review: Yen ! (FX Can Be Murder !) by Guy Stanley (円! 外国為替は致命的です！) ガイ・スタンレー

In the world of FX trading, murder is the ultimate trade in the city of Tokyo. This is a great novel about Tony Moore, who went to the land of the Rising Sun, Japan, to make it big in currency trading. Originally from the UK, he trades in one of the world's most liquid foreign exchange markets in the world, the Japanese Yen. However, he pushes his luck, finds the lifestyle of Japan, more than he bargained for, and ends up dead. He had a bad leg, and used a cane, but sometimes it is not just the steps that can be full of accidents. His body found broken in a supposed drunken fall. Akasaka can be a dangerous place at night it seems, but perhaps not from a fall.

In comes Kevin Nicholls, who takes over as the new head of FX at the firm. Nobody seems to want to talk about what happened, not even Tony's seductive Japanese girlfriend. The story is never crystal clear, and neither is the delicious sake, more cloudy overall. There seem to be many layers to the financial markets in Japan, and Kevin digs deep to look into what really happened. Roppongi, Shinjuku and Otemachi all are parts of Tokyo, and they all have secrets, deadly ones. The images of the street live and the atmosphere of each locale is vibrantly described in great detail. You can almost smell the breeze change in the air from every page.

What clearly stands out in this Tokyo, based story are the locations used by the author, Guy Stanley. He clearly did a great amount of research. They are all real and can be visited today by any tourist. Having been to many of the places, it was great to get a better sense of what could have happened and relive the story. The Japanese Yakuza, banks, securities firms and a bunch of other financial market players are all involved in this web of murder, but who is at the center?

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that impact any reader are:

1) There is a side of Japan, that few tourists really see, and it is better off that way. This is often a good way to keep the peace.

2) The financial markets in Japan, have their own ways not easily understood or worth tampering with by outsiders.

3) The long history between Yakuza gangsters and the financial markets is an old one. They are sometimes intermingled.

This book was written over 20 years ago, but still packs a punch and passes the test of time. If you like FX markets (or any other), and enjoy reading about the underbelly of Japan, then this is for you. It was the people portrayed that made this so enjoyable. The sleazy tabloid journalist Araki, the American woman Jennifer, looking for her missing brother, and a host of other characters were all really spot on and perfectly described. If murder mystery is your taste in books, and if financial markets make it even more appealing, then this is a great read that fully satisfies. Highly recommended.

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, conferences and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance! 

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 50,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、50,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
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      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Book Review: Think Rich to Get Rich by Larry John リッチを取得するために、豊富な人のように考えて（億万長者の考え方） : ラリー・ジョン

As the 5 word book title implies, you need to prepare for true wealth. This book states that it is very much a mental game you have to train and get ready for. There is no magic pill that you can suddenly take that will avoid this action. You really have to "Think Rich to Get Rich" that much faster in a more focused way. If wealth is your goal, this book is for you. The real difficulty though is, can you clearly face your own real goals towards wealth? An even more difficult challenge is can you actually pin down what wealth as a concept means to you?

Curiously, the author challenges you right at the beginning to define what "Rich" really is. To every person it may be a different thing, but at least it needs to be defined. How do you define something that is intangible? Lifestyle is a starting point. The author makes a good case for what a rich person is. How he or she lives, within what means, and how that can be represented. Strangely, it is not a number. This was amy first surprise, and I was in for many more. It got my brain stimulated as I got surprised by what the author had to say.

I was expecting a more basic attitude of "X amount of wealth can be reached if you do Y by time Z". I was wrong. If your lifestyle is without spending control, any large fortune will run out, making the owner go broke. A large amount of celebrities have been in this situation. Even second or third generation business owners have struggled with this hard reality. Within private banking or family offices, there is a clear fear. Going back to the Dutch fortunes of Amsterdam around 1600, poor children could only afford wooden clogs, not leather shoes. Formerly wealthy families who went bust, were often said to go "clogs to clogs in 3 generations". It remains a financial challenge even in this day.

There is sadly no solid shortcut. Even a billionaire can go broke. Donald Trump went broke in the USA, even Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista went broke. It can happen, and the challenge is why. Spending, leverage, and preparing for your investments, this is what the author explains very well. However, it all must start with a clear plan. Thinking is never easy, especially when it concerns your own future. Given a few days to absorb, any reader starts to understand the point, and how to take personal action. The real test is can you then think of and then define your own wealth plan.

You learn in a very easy way to understand the basics. What you want, what you need, and what you work for, all have to be in sync. Without a plan, you go broke no matter how much money you make. You have to imagine your dreams, goals and desires clearly, in order to recognize them when they appear or walk by. If you think that an amount of cash will create this level of satisfaction, you may find yourself trapped on a rat race ride without end, or worse, one that will end badly.

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that really impact any reader are:

1) There is no limit to being prepared about your own life. It you can figure out where you want to go, then you can recognize all of the signs of how to get there. It is a mindset that you learn to trust and act upon.

2) By having a destination, everything else around you become a simple choice of being helpful or not to your plan. Do you want A? yes, but will it help you get to your destination? if not, then put it off and consider it later. Focus on what you really need to get where you really want to go.

3) The long history failure in many both rich and poor proves that no plan leads to a failed destination. Every person needs to think for themselves and define where they want to go. It is a classic case of, "if you do not know where you are going, you will never get there." You will also not know when you pick up what you need, even when it is right in front of you.

All core rules are worth building any career and wealth goals around. They are foundations that help define why you work, for what purpose, and for what return and satisfaction personally. If you wonder about how to be happy or how to find personal satisfaction, this may help in a small way. Very much worthwhile as a read. This book stretched my mind and challenged my own values both financially and personally, two ways that I never expected. Highly Recommended.

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, conferences and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance! 

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 50,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、50,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo                                          Tokyo

      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Book Review: The Fight for the Soul of Morgan Stanley: Blue Blood & Mutiny by Patricia Beard モルガン・スタンレーのための文化的な戦い :ブルー・ブラッド＆ミューティニー: パトリシア・ビアード

Big banks seem to have recovered fully in 2019, and Morgan Stanley, under CEO James Gorman, seems ahead of rival Goldman Sachs today. Financial history is tied to both JP Morgan & Morgan Stanley. We now consider Glass Steagall again, but it was in fact this law, the Banking Act of 1933, that split the two in the first place. We now say "too big to fail" after the Lehman collapse, but a similar fear of bank failure in the US, had the same feeling almost 90 years ago. In fact between 1929-1933 over 4000 US banks closed leaving US$400 Million in losses to retail depositors. There was no bail out, just panic. Securities had to be separated from banking in the eyes of the US Congress. 

This was a very different time, when ethics were paramount, and partnerships were dominant. Old school was the norm, and relationships & reputations of partners, true owners, counted for everything. The classic banker then had roll-top desks, with legally registered handguns allowed to be stored in them! This book covers a wide history including how hats were to be worn by all partners until John F. Kennedy. There are many other details of the time, and came as a curious eye-opening surprise. This book is a great review of how little finance has changed over time. The firm was born after the great depression and two years after the Glass-Steagall Act. The first part of this book explains how Howard Stanley and J.P. Morgan Jr. created a new Investment Bank, Morgan Stanley in 1935. 

J.P.Morgan Jr.'s  quotes and motto have been a part of modern history, that these 2 quotes certainly represent the core values of the firm. "The banker must at all times conduct himself so as to justify the confidence of his clients in him and thus preserve it for his successors." This seems to contrast greatly with the wild stories of bankers behaving badly today. However, more to the point, "I should state that at all times the idea of doing only first class business, and that in a first class way, has been before our minds." It is all very powerful stuff, and a solid foundation of values for a great financial institution.

The second part of this book, is about how this fell apart after a major M&A miss-step, and how the company had to find its way back to the top of investment banking again. Retail and institutional groups do not mix well culturally, and this book just proves this case. In many ways, this is a business case study on why not to merge different cultures like Dean Witter & Morgan Stanley. Former CEO Phil Purcell was very unlike old CEO John Mack, and the difference showed. The clues were not clear, but more subtle, and took years to fester, before being brought to the surface. In many ways, this seems like a Harvard Business School case study, on what cultural gaps to avoid in major M&A deals. It is often about integration.

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that impact any reader are:

1) There is no limit to being too careful with other people's money. Ethics are a true test of any financial firm long term.

2) Reputation can be a weapon, and was often used by JPMorgan. His rivals sometimes gave up before they should have due to a fear of defeat.

3) The long history and legacy of Morgan Stanley, as a white shoe firm, is impressive. So too are many of the deals done with Fortune 500 firms going back 80+ years.

This is a real life account of both historic roots and recent political battles in the firm. It is worthy of any equal Julius Caesar battle with Brutus, or other senators in ancient Rome. Secret meetings, cultural clashes, men in the shadows all come into play. It has many acts that seem like a thriller. Enjoy this book as it is told smoothly and with high style. If you like financial history, M&A deals, excitement and thrills from a boardroom, then this is for you. Deal junkies will be very satisfied.

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, conferences and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance! 

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 50,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、50,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo                                          Tokyo

      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Book Review: "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis 世紀の空売り―世界経済の破綻に賭けた男たち: マイケル・ルイス

This book is a great follow up to Flash Boys, Moneyball, and Liar's Poker. The author has a great way with words, and you get a real sense of the traders he speaks to. I was very impressed with this very detailed overview of what really took place in frothy global credit markets. They lead to the big mess we discovered later on. Ending of course both Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers. I was not aware of many of the implications he touches on and how they changed prices for all markets.

We learn about who saw the storm coming well ahead of the trouble to follow. Also how difficult it was to put on the right trade even if you wanted to. It reminded me of the old saying, "thinking of a new idea is not the difficult part of business, it is making the new idea a reality, and profitable, that is the difficult point". 

The most curious insight was how three amature investors behind Cornwall Capital, did so well shorting CDS, and related trades. For these three to put together a trade so innovative and small in scale at first, but so attractive ultimately, is a David & Goliath story in many ways. The profile of Michael Blurry, from Scion Capital is very revealing. You often have to be a clear outsider, in order to see what others do not, or refuse, to see around them. There is not always wisdom in crowds in a true sigma event. Being able to see a bigger picture can be quite painful. There is no easy way to make a fortune. Mr Market always respects reality in the end. He was also fascinating as he is far from "typical". He is not who you could describe as one of the first doctors, turned financial blogger, and turned hedge fund manager. 

It was the personalities and details of each character, along with their individual struggles, that makes this a page turner. I know how the sad story ended, but that did not matter. I wondered about what I would do in a similar situation. If I could see the future in any financial sense so clearly, yet in such a anti-social manner to so many others in the market, would I continue? Would I just give up and not follow through like these remarkable people? I am not sure given what I have read, and given how long it took to be redeemed in the end. It seems in many ways like a pyrrhic victory for some. This was a great profile of the key players in this doomed market, and so many others in the background. It was a fascinating book in order to better understand what it took for them to get their goals and not give up a clear goal that few would widely support. The resistance by many to their correct, but anti-market ideas was often fierce.  Many pioneers go through a similar experience with new ideas no matter what they take on. We all benefit from resistance, but we rarely see how badly it can impact others at the time.

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that impact any reader are:

1) There is no limit to being too careful with your beliefs on investment opportunities. Ethics and counter trends are a true test of any financial firm long term.

2) Reputation can be a weapon, but can also be a weakness. Conviction in any single trade needs to be rock solid the more radical is seems to others in the same market.

3) The long history and legacy of original thinkers making a fortune. George Soros, is one of many examples of top-tier risk takers seeing a chance and going "all in".

This is a real life account of both historic facts and events that were all part of the pre-Lehman Brothers crisis. This is not a story about the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. In fact, it is about what lead to it. Other books like "Too Big to Fail" go into that aspect in much more detail. This book is about what lead only a few, to see opportunity in the frothiness of financial markets around them. I enjoy absorbing whatever views and biases they had before the big credit party ended. It gives a great multi-layered viewpoint of how a real strong minority really saw the crash clearly, but did not look forward to it despite profiting from it ultimately. This was a very worthwhile read, and now a very compelling movie out with a fantastic cast. Deal junkies will be very satisfied.

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, conferences and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance! 

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 50,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、50,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo                                          Tokyo

      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891