Prop Trader in Tokyo, Japan:US$1MM+ BONUS (年収1億円+ !)

Prop Trader in Tokyo, Japan: US$1MM+ BONUS! For more information, contact our president, Mark Pink at TMJ Partners in Tokyo, Tel +81 3-3505-3891 or visit TopMoneyJobs.com for full job description details, confirmed track records are mandatory

Friday Feature Seminar: BlackRock Explains Abenomics

On Thursday January 23, 2014 at the Tokyo American Club, an interesting Economic Seminar was held to explain a Japan Investment outlook. It was presented by the CIO of BlackRock Japan, Shinichi Kawano, in English. It was a packed house with a mix of foreign and Japanese in the audience. I know that many others wanted to attend, and it seems like the kind of Japanese "Abenomics" topic that many of our readers may find worthwhile in possible insight. 

Two of the most interesting takes were about the kinds of industries that seem the least efficient compared to US comparisons. They seem to have the most potential to improve; ICT or the maximizing of Information, Communication & Technology are the ways that this can be done best. When looking at Japan basic manufacturing is already running smoothly as is construction but other industries less so. 

If you used 100 as a goal in compared efficiency in the US, the following Japan sectors seem to have the biggest gap and ability to improv;e;Food & Accommodation just 26.8%, Wholesale/Retail 42.9%, Transportation/Warehousing 45.7%, Electricity, Gas and Water supply services 53.5%, and finally Electrical Equipment 58.6. Clearly there are a lot of equity names in these sectors than can still grow a lot in Japanese price value. An expectation of 18,000 for the Nikkei seems possible by Dec 2014, a very bullish outer limit.

ICT was interesting from a personal comment as I recently heard from a Japanese prop trader in Tokyo, working at a top 5 Japanese securities firm. He asked to use Evernote and Dropbox for sharing research notes with his team, but his firm's management would "not allow it" full stop. He was asked instead to cut and paste (as in glue and scissors) news "paper" articles into a book to be kept in the office. His direct manager said ignore this "out of touch" answer and he now uses these cloud based tools anyway, but sadly, upper management do not officially encourage it. Maybe in time they will.

This is the kind of ICT example that I think Shinichi Kawano is looking for, and I can confirm is out there. It is very insightful and agree that technology and cloud based tools are certainly a key factor holding parts of corporate Japan back even now. The cloud is here, even in Japan, and cannot be stopped. Next stop 18,000 Nikkei based on this "cloud boost" perhaps!

Are you interested in related Analyst roles in Asia or Japan, click here

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

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          Mark  Pink                                            Shinichi Nagasawa

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Japan's Real Estate Bubble is Back in 2014

I agree when taxi drivers start talking about investments with customers in the cab there is a bubble brewing. Right now in Tokyo, the initial steps are now beginning again. It is deja vu all over again. Now, about 5 times your annual income around 30M yen or US$300K, is the current sweet spot in metro centers. The overview is simple for the Japanese retail investor; since Lehman you tried FX online, followed by commodities like oil or coal, then gold for a while, and recently Japanese equities. With a consumer tax increase now slated for April 2014, it seems like now is the time to buy new real estate units. 

All over Tokyo, and other urban areas in Japan new condo construction is rampant with billboards everywhere showing new units for sale. These are not big units; 25-75 square meters, but they are new and well designed. As parents get older a big decision is being made; If we have an empty nest, is a single home really worth keeping? Perhaps it is time to sell the land underneath and buy a condo before the new tax kicks in? This may not make sense to other real estate markets overseas, but in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto or Nagoya, it certainly does.

In Japan there is a depreciation driver with tax incentives that helps many locals, and the single house. Often wood built, it is soon worth nothing in accounting terms after 25+ years but the land still has worth. Last weekend, new projects in Tokyo to help build earthquake firewalls was complained about by many on some investigative talks show. It is now building price pressure due to the Olympic building boom that is driving new rail and expressways links already. As a result the city is changing fast and hopefully within 7 short years.

For non-residents not familiar, central Tokyo, still has single homes. You would not expect to see them in New York's Manhattan, or London's West End, terrace homes rule there, but not in Tokyo. In fact, that is what billionaire's live in. Many billionaires live in single home buildings. Abenomics; from a price-low December 2012, land prices in central Tokyo, (Hiroo or Azabu) are up as much as 44% on specific lots in less than a year. The average price today is still very low compared to the bubble peak prices of 1991, often no more than 30% of its former peak, so plenty of room to grow from a purchase today. The math is not complex, just do the numbers. Japan's farmers are old, office workers are young, and they work in big cities. The Japanese nation's population is shrinking, especially the countryside, 
but not its cities. 

There are NO nationality restrictions on ownership for these homes. Cash is all you need, unlike in other parts of Asia. There is NO real estate restriction based on an owner's passport, anybody can buy anything legally in Japan. Many Asian investors have clued in and are now buying land from older homes, putting up parking lots in the interim or a higher yielding convenience store, then waiting for the full bubble fever prices to return. With so many new maps with zones of specific lots to investigate (or avoid) from recent Olympic plans, a fascinating maze of profits (or problems) awaits the on the ground investor. To sell in future for 30-50% more in 3-5 years or less can be pretty compelling. The good old 10% return a year retail investor rule is back. So maybe retail investors have it right, again!

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

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Job Update Tokyo: Long-Short Prop Trader in Japan

Back by popular demand; the Job Description Infographic.

Do you have what it takes to be a Long-Short Prop Trader in Japan?

Contact us at resume@tmjpartners.com if you think you do.

Japan's Retail Securities Rebound in Equities in 2014

To my surprise last week during a meeting with the president of a Japanese securities firm in Tokyo, I heard news of strong profits in Japan. After asking about how good profits are in 2013 compared to last year 2012, I actually heard the follwoing phrase, "It is not a question of any percentage better than last year, it is multiples better! If things continue like this, 2013 may be the best result we have had in 20 years since the bubble!" I have heard about some firms benefiting from the "Abenomics" rebound, but I had no idea it meant full multiples of improved results for certain firms already.

I then had to ask why results were so good and his response made sense to me; "Generally, our retail clients have been growing as a percentage of active trading, but they have changed what they trade. Last year many retail clients were trading FX, but the Yen crosses have not been very volatile or predictable this year. Gold has been in a down trend for a while, and is difficult to short, JGB rates are not moving up in the short term, so that really only leaves 2 asset classes left; Japanese equities and residential real estate."

I also had the opportunity to ask a few more questions to gain additional insight:

Q. How do you see equity markets in 2014 and what are your hiring plans? 

A. To be honest, there are NO headcount limits on retail sales people at our firm. If there are motivated equity sales people with basic or in-pocket retail clients, we would like to hire as many as we can in 2014. 

Q. In addition to equity sales what else is active? 

A. Real estate. We are actively looking for deal makers who can connect buyers and sellers of land and residential buildings especially in central Tokyo.

Moreover according to this president, overseas real estate investors from Asia into Japan are now growing. There has been a clear trend to buy larger older homes with gardens of 1000-2000+ square meters or more (1/4-1/2 an acre). Occasionally there are even 2 older properties side by side, and investors construct convenience stores on the property instead of parking lots. As the Abenomics story grows, an exit by 2020 around the Tokyo Olympics can take place, and a full condo building can then be built on the spot if the location is central and close to a train station. If we can find real estate staff who speak Mandarin, then that is the sweet spot. There is big flow in that direction. It is not a well covered market though, and few real estate professionals have those language abilities to do those kinds of deals. 

The retail sales momentum is clearly now on and Bloomberg touched on it last week with a great story. It is a clear snapshot of a Nomura Securities retail sales person closing like the good old bubble days, can we be in store for more bubble days again?

See full Bloomberg story here.

To find your next Retail Sales career look here.

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