Japan Reinventing Itself as a Global Financial Hub

Hiroshi Okada has been assigned to the current position since July, 2020. He is in charge of developing strategies and priorities of JFSA and takes responsibility for agency-wide top priority issues at times. He joined the Ministry of Finance (“MOF”) in 1993, and has held various positions on budget and financial regulations. From 2002 to 2006, he was assigned to the Legislation Bureau of JFSA and was involved in 8 legislations concerning financial regulations. In 2006, he moved to the MOF and worked in the Budget Bureau until 2009. In 2009, he was assigned to JFSA again and worked in various positions, including congressional relation, human resources and publicity activities of JFSA. In 2013, he was transferred to the United States as Counselor, Embassy of Japan, where he worked as representative of MOF and JFSA in Washington D.C. and followed the development of U.S. fiscal-, monetary- and prudential policies until June 2016.

Zuhair manages a governance-focused, market-neutral, Japanese equity long-short strategy at UBP. Prior to joining UBP, he had been the Head of Research and Japan Strategist at Jefferies; where his research focused on corporate governance reform, shareholder activism and event driven strategies. Zuhair has 25 years of experience at global financial institutions, including UBS, Citigroup and MUFG. He has an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with dual degrees from the School of Engineering and the Wharton School.

Christian Pecher is currently the Director of Developed Asia Pacific Equity Research and also a co-manager of the JPMorgan Global Select Equity Fund. Christian started his career with JP Morgan in 1998 as an equity research analyst after completing a Masters Degree in Economics at the London School of Economics. He covered a variety of sectors, including Telecom, Technology and Utilities and in 2016 moved to Japan to assume his current role.

Laurel Teo, Ph.D., CFA, is a behavioural scientist who studies how new technologies such as artificial intelligence influence the way people think, feel, and behave in organizational settings. Her research interests include the impact of technological changes on privacy issues and the future of work. Dr. Teo is currently a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Teo was previously Director, Society Advocacy Engagement, at CFA Institute, where she supported CFA member societies in Asia Pacific in regulatory outreach, market integrity research, and investor protection programs. Before joining CFA Institute, she was a consultant in investor relations. Dr. Teo began her career as a political and business journalist reporting in Singapore and Indonesia with leading newspapers. She earned her Chartered Financial Analyst® designation in 2011 and has been elected to the board of CFA Society Singapore since 2018. She is currently the honorary secretary of CFA Society Singapore. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) double majoring in Anthropology and Chinese from Yale University, and her Ph.D. in Business (Organisational Behaviour & Human Resources) from Singapore Management University.

Mark Lazberger, CFA, is the former chief executive officer for Colonial First State Global Asset Management and oversaw more than $160 billion in funds and assets under management across equities, debt, infrastructure, and property. Prior to joining CFSGAM, Lazberger was president, international, and executive vice president of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). Before this, he was head of international businesses, president and CEO of State Street Japan, and a Principal and regional managing director of SSgA's businesses in Japan and Australia. Lazberger has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia, earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, and was a member of the Board of Governors of CFA Institute. He is also a director of the Sydney Theatre Company.

Shota is Deputy Director of FinTech and Innovation Office at Japan Financial Services Agency. Previously, Shota was Chief Representative Japan of Everest Ventures Group in Hong Kong. Shota worked at Goldmans Sachs(both Japan and Hong Kong) as his first career and also worked at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group as Deputy Manager and AID Group as Vice President in Hong Kong. Shota holds a BSc, Political Science & Economics from Waseda University.