Yoshihito Asakawa, a former Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. trader, will start a Japan-focused hedge fund in May that will invest in credit derivatives and currencies.
Asakawa, 31, plans to start with about ¥500 million in initial capital raised from investors he found through his own blog, and eventually wants to raise ¥2 billion within two years, he said. The fund will target about a 15 percent to 20 percent return annually, he said.
Hedge fund startups are trying to raise money as investors become more risk-averse amid Greece's debt crisis and the biggest investigation of Japan's fund industry after AIJ Investment Advisors Co.'s suspension by regulators looking into how the firm managed clients' money using a hedge fund strategy. It is believed to have lost billions of yen in retirement funds.