Fund profile

More information is available at the fund’s website www.ajot.co.uk

AJOT is an investor in Japanese companies. Its focus is on small- and mid-cap listed companies that have a large portion of their market capitalisation in cash, listed securities or other realisable assets. AJOT’s manager states that it seeks to engage proactively with these companies to unlock their value potential.

AJOT’s AIFM and investment manager is Asset Value Investors Limited (AVI). The lead manager working on AJOT’s portfolio is Joe Bauernfreund, who is part of a team focused on Japan, the majority of whom are Japanese-speakers.

AVI was established in 1985 to manage what is now AVI Global Trust (AGT) and has been investing in Japan for more than four decades. AJOT was launched in October 2018 to focus on opportunities in that market. At the end of April 2026, AVI and its employees owned over £4.4m worth of shares in AJOT.

In November 2025, AJOT completed a merger with Fidelity Japan Trust (FJV), issuing 110.7m AJOT shares in exchange for assets of around £184m. AJOT offers its shareholders annual exit opportunities at a small discount to NAV, which appears to have contributed to the trust’s shares trading close to NAV. The last of these completed in January 2026, with about 26.9m shares repurchased at a 2% discount to NAV (adjusted for the costs of providing the tender).

AJOT compares its performance to the MSCI Japan Small Cap Total Return Index, expressed in sterling terms, but the index does not inform AJOT’s portfolio construction. As a result, AJOT has a high active share relative to the performance benchmark.

Japan

Since the last publication, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi won the snap general election that she called in early February. That outcome gave the Liberal Democrat Party a majority in parliament, which may provide a more predictable political backdrop.

Figure 1: MSCI Japan versus MSCI ACWI

Figure 2: MSCI Japan Small Cap versus MSCI Japan

The Japanese market has outperformed the MSCI ACWI, while Japanese smaller companies have marginally outpaced their larger counterparts. This has occurred despite the headwinds of a weak yen, the potential effects of the Iran war on energy costs (Japan imports almost all of its oil from the Gulf region), and tensions between Japan and China that have affected Chinese imports of Japanese goods.

AVI believes that relative to the wider market, AJOT’s portfolio is less sensitive to sectors that are heavily impacted by higher fuel costs

AVI believes that AJOT’s portfolio is less sensitive than the wider market to sectors that are most affected by higher fuel costs. For example, while Eiken Chemical sits in the chemical sector, it does not use petroleum feedstock in its operations. Mitsubishi Logistics may be the most sensitive, but AVI states that the attraction of that investment is the considerable surplus real estate on the balance sheet rather than the operating business, which has been able to mitigate higher fuel costs through surcharges, and AVI says that AJOT’s investment case is less affected.

A surge in defence spending and increased investment in AI appear to be influencing related sectors. Commodities prices have been rising, which may be benefiting mining stocks and companies that supply to that industry. Wages are rising, which suggests that inflation may be becoming more entrenched. This does not appear to have fed through into consumer spending. Rising interest rates have been supportive of financials but have not been increased since December 2025.

The yen remains weaker than many had expected, which appears to be holding back returns for sterling-based investors. There appears to be growing impetus for this to change, as a stronger yen could help ease the impact of imported inflation.

Japanese retail investors appear to be encouraged to invest in equities, partly on the basis that rising inflation may make alternatives to cash deposits more attractive. This has been cited as a factor that may be supporting the stock market’s rise.

Corporate governance progress continues

AVI states that the trend of improving corporate governance within Japan appears to be continuing. The new AGM season is underway, and AVI reports that it will remain active in seeking to have shareholder-friendly resolutions passed.

The FJV deal increased the trust’s capacity to take larger stakes in existing holdings and to fund some new ones. There are currently four or five companies where AJOT owns between 20% and 40% of stock. At the start of May 2026, Japan changed the rules on investors building up large shareholdings in companies, introducing regulations similar to the UK’s Takeover Panel rules. Under these rules, breaching a 30% shareholding would trigger a mandatory bid for a company, which may make another 40% stake unlikely.

Investors in Japanese equities are required to declare stakes of 5% or more. AVI states that these declarations can serve as a catalyst for a re-rating, as other investors may anticipate positive news. AVI also states that companies appear to be more open to engagement than they were when AJOT launched.

AVI says that mainstream investors are focusing on corporate governance

The manager seeks to build consensus by communicating with a large number of other shareholders, while taking care to avoid forming concert parties. AVI states that it often finds it is invested alongside investors with similar views and that mainstream investors appear to have become more engaged in corporate governance issues.

AVI states that it believes there may be further upside in the strategy. The company indicates it is still identifying investments that it considers attractively valued and, in its view, there is more that companies could do to boost margins, improve returns on equity, and make balance sheets more efficient.

There may be further changes to Japan’s corporate governance regime. AVI reports that Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is conducting its first review of the Corporate Governance Code since 2021. The outcome of this review is expected later this year.

Investment process – how the portfolio is selected

There are about 4,000 listed companies in Japan. AVI focuses on small- and mid-cap companies – those with market capitalisations in a typical range of £50m to £4bn – where it can take stakes that it believes are meaningful and use these to seek to influence change.

AVI begins by screening, on at least a monthly basis, the market for companies with excess cash or listed securities. The data is not always easily accessible, and analysts may need to undertake significant work to determine the figures. For example, in some cases, the cash may have been lent to the parent company.

Not all of these are profitable businesses – some appear to be companies that exist primarily to provide employment or to service pension payments. Since activism may take time to have an effect, a company with weaker fundamentals could potentially lose value more quickly than AVI can generate it.

The next step is to exclude loss-making and highly cyclical businesses. AVI states that it seeks to invest in companies that it considers to be of reasonably good quality, with resilient business models and the prospect of profit growth. The targets are businesses that AVI describes as solid and, in some cases, high-margin. AVI quantifies the fundamental value of these companies using measures such as EV/EBIT.

The next question is how AVI might seek to unlock value; for example, whether there are shareholders with similar perspectives. This step may include dialogue with other key stakeholders.

About 80–120 companies appear to meet AVI’s screening criteria. The team conducts in-depth research on approximately five to 10 companies per month. AJOT typically makes around one to three new investments each quarter.

Portfolio construction

According to the manager, from the target list, it maintains a single-digit number of “ready to go” opportunities on which it has performed detailed due diligence.

Each stock in the portfolio is selected based on criteria that suggest potential to outperform the market in terms of quality and growth characteristics. Additional returns may be generated from events that could unlock underlying value.

AJOT is managed with approximately 15–25 positions, and AVI has indicated that it is comfortable for AJOT to be at the lower end of this range. The manager applies a risk overlay to seek to ensure that the portfolio is not over-exposed to any one sector or group of companies.

According to the manager, starting with a hypothetical blank canvas, it would be appropriate to allocate roughly equally to each opportunity, given the uncertainty around how engagement will evolve. In practice, portfolio sizes vary based on liquidity and the manager’s assessment of the likelihood of successful engagement and the possibility of a corporate event. The manager states that if some positions are relatively low in weight, this is due to availability of capital rather than a desire to have small tail positions. At the end of April 2026, around 70% of the portfolio was invested in the 10 largest positions.

Ahead of a purchase, the analysts prepare a detailed internal note on the suitability of a stock, and an allocation decision is made based on factors such as business quality, potential for upside through engagement, and liquidity.

AVI states that it is prepared to be patient, as it may take time to achieve alignment amongst stakeholders. The manager would exit a position if it appeared that the desired result was not achievable or if the manager believed that the quality of the stock had deteriorated significantly. The expected holding period is three to five years. However, turnover has recently been higher than this, which may be due to several privatisations and corporate events.

AJOT’s portfolio appears to differ significantly from benchmark indices.

AVI’s approach to engagement

AVI’s approach to engagement is tailored to the specific characteristics of each company’s business model and the governance issues that AVI seeks to address. AVI states that it does not generally take a hostile or aggressive approach to activism, but instead aims to work with management in private to find co-operative solutions to the companies’ issues. On average, AVI meets with each investee company approximately seven times per year.

Improving aspects of ESG is a core focus, as is improving balance sheet efficiency. AVI also aims to persuade company management to define and focus on core business segments, and to develop long-term strategies for achieving revenue growth and margin expansion.

The team may seek to escalate the intensity of its campaigns if it does not observe sufficient progress. For the majority of AJOT’s holdings, AVI’s campaigns are not expected to be made public until after the outcomes have been announced, if at all. In some cases, AVI may choose to initiate public engagement to apply additional pressure on management teams. AVI may submit shareholder proposals to encourage changes in the board’s behaviour.

Investment restrictions

There are no limits on sector weightings within the portfolio. It is not expected that, at the time of investment, any single holding (including exposure by way of any derivative instrument) will represent more than 10% of AJOT’s gross assets. However, AJOT has discretion to invest up to 15% of its gross assets in a single stock if it deems it a suitable opportunity.

There are no restrictions on AJOT’s exposure to stocks with any given market capitalisation, but the portfolio is typically weighted towards small- and medium-sized companies.

Derivatives can be used for efficient portfolio management purposes and to provide gearing.

Asset allocation

On 30 April 2026, AJOT had 28 holdings, seven more than when our previous note was published, but in-line with AJOT’s usual range.

The average stock in the portfolio is valued on 8.9x EV/EBIT and has net cash as a percentage of market cap of 12.4%. According to the manager, around 38% of the average stock’s market cap was accounted for by net cash, investment securities and stakes in other companies that were not needed for the business.

Sector allocations reflect AVI’s stock selection decisions. Compared to when our last report was published (using data as at 30 September 2025), the exposure to the consumer discretionary sector increased from 16% to 24% and industrials from 22% to 28%; by contrast, exposure to consumer staples decreased by five percentage points. The split by market cap indicates a continued shift towards smaller companies, as noted in previous reports, with exposure to companies with market caps of less than £250m rising from 31% to 47% since the last publication.

Figure 3: AJOT sector breakdown as at 30 April 2026

Figure 4: AJOT portfolio split by market cap as at 30 April 2026

10 largest holdings

Since the last publication, using data as at end September 2025, three positions – Raito Kogyo, Rohto Pharmaceutical, and Aoyama Zaisan Networks – have exited the top 10, to be replaced by Maruzen Showa Unyu, Asiro, and Sanyo Shokai.

In February 2026, specialist construction company Raito Kogyo announced a share buyback programme alongside its results. AVI says that this was one of several key measures – including its M&A strategy, ESG commitments, and a reconsideration of its price-to-book target – that may have contributed to a 20% uplift in its share price, and it appears that AJOT sold shares during this period.

Rohto Pharmaceutical remains a large position in the portfolio. AVI has announced that it plans to submit a shareholder proposal to dismiss the company’s chairman, Kunio Yamada, at Rohto’s June 2026 AGM.

Clothing business Atsugi’s share price declined over Q1, falling briefly out of AJOT’s top 10, but the shares increased in April. The business has been held since July 2024 and was loss-making for much of the past decade. AVI believes that it is very overcapitalised. Wealth management consultancy Aoyama Zaisan Networks has derated since November following a profit warning related to a planned tax reform.

Figure 5: 10 largest holdings at 30 April 2026

Maruzen Showa Unyu

Figure 6: Maruzen Showa Unyu (JPY)

Maruzen Showa Unyu (maruzenshowa.co.jp/en) is a third-party logistics business that has been held in AJOT’s portfolio for a while. The increase in its share price following the publication of its Q2 results (covering the period to the end of September) in November 2025 contributed to its inclusion in AJOT’s top 10 holdings. Results for the year ended 31 March 2026 showed over 30% EPS growth on modest sales growth. The share price has since been affected by rising fuel costs associated with the Iran war. More recently, investor sentiment may have also been influenced by the company’s plan to adopt “poison pill” measures to counter potential takeover bids. These measures are scheduled to be voted on at the upcoming AGM.

Asiro

Figure 7: Asiro (JPY)

Asiro (en.asiro.co.jp) operates media platforms that connect law firms and clients (BenNavi), and job-seekers with recruitment agencies. It also has a legal insurance business. AVI has built a large stake in the business. Recent quarterly figures were below previous periods, and the company is seeking to address this.

Asiro states that advances in AI will be a net benefit to its businesses. The company has increased its dividend payout ratio from 30% to 40% and will buy back shares.

Sanyo Shokai

Figure 8: Sanyo Shokai (JPY)

Sanyo Shokai (sanyo-shokai.co.jp/en) is a manufacturer of clothes and accessories, which it sells mainly through department stores, and also has a growing ecommerce business. The company bought back 8% of its stock over the past financial year and cancelled almost all of its stock held in treasury. This appears to have contributed to an increase in earnings per share, which rose 11% year-on-year, despite a decline in sales and profits as the company realised profits on sales of investment securities. The company increased its dividend by 5%. It is forecasting modest sales and EPS growth for FY27.

The company has been reviewing its balance sheet and is freeing up surplus land for sale at its head office in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo.

An activist investor, Sapphireterra Capital LLC (Sanyo Shokai’s second-largest shareholder after AVI), is asking Sanyo Shokai to pay a special dividend of JPY1,200 per share. The company is opposing this, stating that it wants to use its balance sheet to support brand development, overseas expansion, and M&A. Proxy advisory firm ISS is recommending that shareholders vote against the special dividend proposal.

Other stocks

Synchro Food

In a departure from its previous approach, AJOT has, for the first time, appointed a member of the AVI team to the board of an investee company, Synchro Food. AJOT first invested in the company in March 2025. In September, AVI requisitioned an EGM. This sought to dismiss one director and appoint Kaz Sakai (see page 16) in his place. The vote passed on 26 December 2025. Fellow shareholders LIM Advisors and VIS Advisors supported the proposal, and the chairman and the CEO of Synchro Food were dismissed.

Synchro Food operates a B2B platform (inshokuten.com) for restaurant businesses, matching firms with suppliers, staff, and other services. AVI stated that it believed ill-disciplined capital allocation was weighing on investor sentiment.

Broadmedia

AJOT’s large stake in online education business Broadmedia was, in part, the result of a tender offer that AJOT made for Broadmedia stock in December 2025 at JPY2200 per share. The stock reached a high of JPY2444 in April 2026, which may have been influenced by improving profitability, but has declined since.

Eiken Chemical

Eiken Chemical was the subject of bid rumours in February 2026, which appeared to drive its share price higher. However, the shares have fallen back since.

Foster Electric

Figure 9: Foster Electric (JPY)

Sitting just outside AJOT’s list of top 10 holdings, Foster Electric (foster-electric.com/investors) is a manufacturer of loudspeakers, audio equipment, and electronic equipment. The business reported improving sales and profits last year, but more recent figures have been weaker.

Axium Capital has been increasing its stake in the business over recent quarters, and stated in March that it held 22.5% of the company. AVI announced a 5% stake at the end of January and indicated that it might make proposals to the company.

In February, Foster Electric stated that it would form an audit and supervisory committee for the first time. The company also raised its dividend forecast to JPY80 (FY25 JPY 60).

Up-to-date information on AJOT and its peers is available on our website

Performance

Although the short-term period has been more difficult, AJOT’s NAV and share price returns remain ahead of its performance benchmark, the MSCI Japan Small Cap index, over the long-term.

The nature of AJOT’s investment approach means that returns may be influenced by the manager’s stock selection and the outcomes of its campaigns to unlock value. There may be periods where AJOT’s returns diverge from the index, and therefore its performance may be more appropriately assessed over the long term.

Figure 10: Total return cumulative performance over various time periods to 31 May 2026

Figure 11: AJOT NAV total return performance relative to MSCI Japan Small Cap index for the five years to 31 May 2026

AVI states that the biggest detractors from AJOT’s returns over the six months to the end of March were Aoyama Zaisan, Synchro Food, and Atsugi (all of which are discussed above), as well as Wacom and DTS.

Digital pen business Wacom’s share price fell by 9.6% over the six-month period, but most of that fall occurred in March 2026 and may reflect wider economic concerns. The company has since announced its full-year results for the 12 months ended 31 March 2026. These showed a 4.9% fall in revenue, but its profitability increased compared to the prior year.

DTS’s share price fall was 21.6% over the period. This appears likely to have been influenced by concerns regarding the potential impact of agentic AI on its IT services business. Actual results to 31 March 2026 showed sales up 7.4% and profits increasing by 9.6%.

Dividend

AJOT is not managed to produce any target level of income. The board distributes substantially all of AJOT’s net revenue, in the form of semi-annual dividends declared in April and October.

AJOT’s dividends have generally been covered by earnings, which has enabled it to build a revenue reserve that, at the end of December 2025, stood at £2.1m or 0.95p per share.

Figure 12: AJOT dividend history – accounting years ended 31 December

Source: AVI Japan Opportunity Trust

Premium/(discount)

Over the 12 months ended 31 May 2026, AJOT’s shares traded between a 2.7% premium and a 6.6% discount. The average discount over the period was 1.6%. At 8 June 2026, AJOT was trading at a 1.0% discount.

AJOT’s discount controls, including its annual tender offer, appear to have contributed to it trading relatively close to NAV. After the dislocation associated with the combination with FJV, AJOT has at times traded at a premium and has been able to issue shares.

Figure 13: AJOT premium/discount for the five years to 31 May 2026

Figure 14 shows the issuance and repurchase of shares by month since the end of March 2025. On 3 April 2025, AJOT proposed the combination with Fidelity Japan Trust and on 27 November 2025, 110,674,880 new AJOT shares were issued in exchange for £184m of assets from FJV.

Figure 14: Number of shares issued/(repurchased) by month

On 9 December 2025, AJOT announced its latest annual tender offer, providing shareholders with an uncapped exit at a 2% discount to NAV (less costs). That tender was approved by shareholders on 13 January 2026, and 26,899,713 shares (10.91% of the issued share capital) were repurchased. Since then, AJOT has both issued and repurchased shares.

At the AGM held in May 2026, shareholders granted the directors authority to issue up to 20% of AJOT’s then share capital over the following 15 months, or until the next AGM, whichever occurs earlier. Shares are to be issued (or reissued from treasury) at a price equal to NAV plus a premium at least sufficient to cover the costs associated with issuing the shares.

The board was also granted permission to repurchase up to 14.99% of the ordinary shares. Shares repurchased may be held in treasury.

Structure

Fees and costs

In connection with the FJV merger, AVI agreed to a new tiered management fee structure, based on the lower of market capitalisation and net assets, with a fee of 1.0% on the first £300m, 0.95% on the next £50m, and 0.90% on assets above £350m. AVI continues to invest a quarter of its fees back into AJOT shares.

The ongoing charges ratio for the financial year ended 31 December 2025 was 1.4%, down from 1.5% for FY24. The AJOT board estimated that, based on the new fee arrangements, the ongoing charges ratio may be about 1.25% on a normalised basis.

Capital structure

At 31 May 2026, AJOT had 247,873,823 ordinary shares in issue, 25,475,429 of which were held in treasury. Therefore, the number of shares admitted to trading and with voting rights was 222,398,394. There are no other classes of share capital. No ordinary shares were held in treasury at that date.

The company’s accounting year end is 31 December, and its AGMs are typically held in April/May.

AJOT has an unlimited life; however, as detailed above, shareholders have a regular opportunity to exit the company at a price close to NAV.

Major shareholders

Figure 15: Major shareholders as at 12 March 2026

The data in Figure 15 was taken from the annual report. Since then:

• AVI has acquired a further 85,000 shares in connection with its commitment to invest at least 25% of its investment management fee into AJOT shares.
• Finda Oy has reduced its stake to 2m shares or 8.99% of AJOT.

Gearing and hedging

AJOT had a JPY6.6bn (roughly £31m) revolving credit facility that matured on 2 April 2026. Interest was charged at TONAR plus 1.55%. At the end of March 2026, the company had net gearing of 6%.

AJOT does not currently intend to hedge its underlying currency exposure, but the board and manager keep this under review.

Management team

Joe Bauernfreund (CEO and CIO)

Joe is chief executive officer and chief investment officer of AVI. He is the sole manager of AVI Global Trust and AVI Japan Opportunity Trust, and responsible for all investment decisions across AVI’s global and Japan strategies. Before joining AVI in 2002, Joe worked for six years at a real estate investment organisation in London. He has a Masters in Finance from the London Business School.

Nicola Takada Wood (managing director Japan)

Nicola joined AVI in January 2025 from Redwheel, where she was portfolio manager and portfolio advisor of the Japan strategy. Prior to that, she was responsible for Japanese equity sales at Mizuho International and Japanese sales trading at Goldman Sachs (Japan). Nicola has a BSc from University of London, SOAS.

Kaz Sakai (head of Japan research)

Kaz started working with AVI in May 2020, researching Japanese companies while completing his MBA at Harvard Business School. He formally joined AVI’s investment team in June 2021. Prior to Harvard, he was engagement manager at McKinsey & Company’s Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice in Tokyo.

Kaz holds a BSc in Geochemistry from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Shuntaro Shimizu (senior investment analyst)

Shuntaro joined AVI in August 2023 from Bain & Company, where he worked within its management consultancy division. Prior to that, he worked within the Bank of Japan. He has a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Ross McGarry (senior investment analyst)

Ross joined AVI in June 2020. He researches South Korean holding companies and asset-backed Japanese companies.

Before joining AVI, Ross completed a one-year programme at Nomura on a UK M&A Investment Banking Industrial Placement. He has a BSc in Economics from the University of Bath.

Jason Bellamy (senior engagement consultant)

Jason joined AVI in March 2020. He works closely with the analyst team and collaborates on the engagement efforts in Japan. Jason brings more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry, working for and engaging with global companies, government bodies, regulators and international investors including Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, First Trust Advisors and Aberdeen Standard Investments. He is based in Tokyo.

Jason has a BSc in Economics from The London School of Economics & Political Science (University of London).

Luke Hutcherson (investment analyst)

Luke joined AVI in February 2023. He researches asset-backed Japanese companies and South Korean holding companies. Before joining AVI, Luke completed internships at Tico Capital Management and Ernst & Young. He has a BCom in Finance & Accounting from the University of Sydney and an MSc in Financial Analysis from London Business School.

Yuiko Ozawa (investment analyst)

Yuiko joined AVI in March 2026 after three years working for McKinsey & Company. She has a BA in Sociology from Sophia University.

Ben Levy (ESG analyst)

Ben joined AVI in April 2025. He is responsible for the integration of ESG and sustainability assessments into the investment process.

Prior to joining AVI, Ben was a sustainable finance consultant at Guidehouse where he also served as APAC Co-ordinator for the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials. Ben has an MA in Economics from University of Glasgow and an MSc in Climate Change, Management & Finance from Imperial College Business School. He also holds the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing.

Board

Following the recent recruitment of Claire Binyon, AJOT has five directors, all of whom are non-executive and independent of the manager. No director sits on another board together with another member of AJOT’s board. All of the directors stand for re-election at each AGM.

Figure 16: Directors’ length of service, fees, and shareholding

Norman Crighton

Norman Crighton is an experienced public company director, having served on the boards of nine closed-end funds and one operating company. Presently, Norman is also non-executive chair of RM Infrastructure Income plc and non-executive director of Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc.

Norman has extensive fund experience, having previously been Head of Closed-end Funds at Jefferies International and Investment Manager at Metage Capital Limited, leveraging his 35 years of experience in investment trusts. His career in investment banking covered research, sales, market making and proprietary trading, servicing major international institutional clients over 15 years. His work in many countries included restructuring closed-end funds, as well as several IPOs. As a fund manager, Norman managed portfolios of closed-end funds on a hedged and unhedged basis covering developed and emerging markets.

Claire Binyon

Claire is a chartered accountant and experienced non-executive director with a distinguished career including senior roles in corporate finance, strategic planning, and M&A, across blue-chip multinationals and listed companies in a wide range of sectors.

She currently serves as non-executive director and audit & risk committee chair of Murray International Trust Plc and non-executive director and audit committee chair of JPMorgan American Investment Trust Plc. She previously held non-executive roles as chair of NHBS Ltd and as a non-executive director of IG Design Group Plc (AIM-listed). Her executive career included senior corporate development and strategy leadership positions at InBev, Cadbury, DS Smith, and Fenner (a Michelin group company) amongst others.

Claire is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (FCA), having qualified with Ernst & Young.

Andrew Rose

Andrew retired from Schroders in 2019 after a distinguished 38-year career specialising in Japanese equities. His career included 11 years in Tokyo over three separate secondments, where he was involved in various research and fund management responsibilities across the market capitalisation spectrum. His specific responsibilities included managing several open- and closed-end Japanese equity funds, as well as institutional portfolios.

After retirement from full-time fund management, Andrew served as a non-executive director and member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee at Uhuru Corporation in Tokyo for three years.

Andrew is a British citizen, fluent in reading and speaking Japanese, and resides in the United Kingdom.

Margaret Stephens

Margaret has recently served on the board of Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited. She previously served as non-executive board member and chair of the audit and risk committee of VH Global Energy Infrastructure Plc and was a partner of KPMG until 2016, having qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1988. From 2007, she played a key role in building KPMG’s Global Infrastructure Practice, also leading UK and international due diligence and structuring services on major merger and acquisition transactions and public private partnerships. Margaret was a trustee director of the Nuclear Liabilities Fund and chair of the audit committee until January 2024, non-executive board member and chair of the audit and risk assurance committee of the Department for Exiting the European Union and was also a board trustee of the London School of Architecture. Margaret is British and resident in the United Kingdom.

Tom Yoritaka

Tom is a venture capital investor, software executive, and board member with over 30 years of experience in the technology industry in the UK, North America and Japan. He invests in early-stage technology and science-backed startups, and working closely with founders and co-investors, many of whom are leading venture capital funds or C-suite executives of multinational companies. He also sits on the Board of Trustees of SOAS University of London, as well as on boards of various technology industry organisations in the UK.

Previously, Tom served in software product and corporate development executive roles at Cisco Systems, Yahoo! and Microsoft in the US. Early in his career, he worked as a strategy consultant at The Boston Consulting Group in the US and Japan.

Tom is fluent in English and Japanese. He holds dual British/American citizenship and resides in the United Kingdom.

Previous publications

Readers interested in further information about AJOT may wish to read our previous notes listed below. You can read them by clicking on the links in Figure 17 or by visiting our website.

Figure 17: QuotedData’s previously published notes on AJOT

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