Tomohiro Yamaguchi, the former head of Point72’s Japan operations, is preparing to launch a new Hong Kong hedge fund firm – Invictus Investment Partners – to tap into growing investor demand for Japan-focused strategies, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The new venture has secured anchor capital of $200m from an unnamed investor, which is subject to a two-year lock-up period, and plans to begin trading in Q1 2026, pending regulatory approval.

Invictus will focus exclusively on the 300 largest and most liquid Japanese equities, using a fundamental, earnings-driven stock-picking approach. The fund intends to keep net exposure capped below 15%, balancing long and short positions to scale efficiently while managing risk.

Yamaguchi is teaming up with COO Kirtes Bharti, formerly of Segantii, Scotia and BNP Paribas prime brokerage, alongside a team of four analysts. The firm aims to differentiate itself from smaller, domestic Japan hedge funds by focusing on liquid names and building institutional-grade infrastructure to manage larger allocations.

The launch comes as Japan enjoys renewed global investor attention, supported by corporate governance reforms, rising prices, and policy shifts encouraging local institutions to back asset managers. The Nikkei 225 has delivered annualised returns above 8% over the past five years, far outpacing regional peers such as China.

Yamaguchi brings deep experience in Japanese equities, having co-led Pictet Asset Management’s Japan total return strategy — which once managed $2.5bn — before joining Point72 in 2019 to run its Japan office. He later returned to portfolio management at Schonfeld, overseeing hundreds of millions in long/short Japanese equities.