Boutique brokerage firm, StormHarbour Partners LP, established in March 2009 by Antonio Cacorino (pictured) and Fredrick Chapey, has opened an of
Boutique brokerage firm, StormHarbour Partners LP, established in March 2009 by Antonio Cacorino (pictured) and Fredrick Chapey, has opened an office in Tokyo; it’s sixth office globally and third in Asia. Earlier this year, broker-dealers were established in Hong Kong and Singapore, underscoring the firm’s commitment to build on its global momentum, and this further expansion into the Japan market is testament to the strategic importance they attribute to Asia Pacific. Heading up StormHarbour Japan Ltd. as CEO and Managing Principal is Michimasa Naka, a 20-year investment banking veteran whose most recent role was Deputy President and Head of Global Investor Sales for Citigroup Global Markets Japan. Naka is leading a team of 13 senior professionals, many of who have developed fixed income expertise at Citigroup Japan, as StormHarbour Japan Ltd. looks to compete with global rivals by offering “undervalued” securities in the Japanese market. The “full-service” broker-dealer provides institutional investors like hedge funds with a range of services from fixed income product sales and execution through to full asset coverage and portfolio advisory expertise. This year has seen the highest number of Japanese startup hedge funds since 2005. As pension fund allocations into alternatives increase and fund strategies become more diversified, Hedgeweek asked Naka-san what level of business he expected to see coming from Tokyo-based hedge fund managers but no comment was proffered. Naka plans to double headcount to 30 over the next two years – current firm-wide headcount is approximately 150. StormHarbour’s other offices are based in New York, London and Geneva.
