About Us

Andrew has lived in Japan for 25 years, with 20 years of Japanese equity experience.

He started his career with 10 years on the sell-side as an analyst covering the automotive sector at Citigroup, KBC, and BNP Paribas, and then switched to the buy-side, initially at Rockhampton Management and most recently at Point 72 Asset Management, mainly covering the broader automotive sector.

He is a fluent Japanese speaker, having come to Japan on a Monbusho Japanese government scholarship, and is a graduate of Kobe University where he majored in Economics.

Hiroshi was a ranked equity analyst at KBC Securities Japan and JPMorgan Securities in Tokyo covering Japanese tech stocks. In London, he worked in Pan Asian Equity sales at Daiwa Capital Markets, and then switched to the buy-side as an analyst at a thematic robotics and automation fund, and co-founded a global high-quality franchise fund. Qualifying at KPMG, Hiroshi is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Makoto Hojo has over 14 years of experience in the finance industry, including 5 years on the buy-side and 6 years on the sell-side. She has extensive experience in qualitative and quantitative research on stocks and macroeconomics and in preparing asset management investment reports. She also plans and manages investor events. She has worked for Viking Global Investors, CLSA, and Lombard Odier.

Tim has worked in investment banking for over 15 years in the UK and Japan. He has held positions in sales in Japanese equities at companies such as Daiwa, Morgan Stanley, and Mizuho as well as roles within the research department. Tim has covered Japan specialist clients and global institutional accounts in Europe, with a focus on Japanese small-cap stocks. He lived in Japan for over 12 years and reads and speaks Japanese fluently.

Jessica brings 40 years of experience in Japanese Equities and Multi-Asset knowledge through her involvement in Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management as well as with her years of service to Institutional Investors on the Sell side in HSBC, Citigroup, MUFG Secs. and Daiwa Securities based in global financial centers such as London, Tokyo, and Singapore.

Her most recent role was in Multi-Asset Research and Business Development for Absolute Strategy Research, an independent research boutique in London. She also brings to Astris Advisory her multi-lingual abilities and robust company knowledge to galvanise her skillset. 

Adrian has an MBA from Bristol University and the ENPC in Paris, and speaks several languages fluently including Japanese, Mandarin, Russian and French.

Adrian first came to Japan in 1987. On the sell side at companies such as CLSA and Commerzbank Adrian visited hundreds of small and middle-sized companies across Asia. He concentrates on identifying quality businesses.

Michael has held sell-side roles in quantitative and fundamental research stretching back 15 years. He was previously at Lehman Brothers Securities in Tokyo and Nomura Securities in Hong Kong and most recently, Jefferies. 

He builds value-added quantitative models that become key components of client investment decisions. 

Michael graduated with an MBA from the University of Toronto and is a CFA charterholder.

Ian has been active as a commodity analyst for over 20 years at consulting firm CRU Group, the SMM and Rio Tinto. On the sell-side he held positions at CLSA and Macquarie. He lived in China from 2003 to 2014 and Singapore from 2014 to 2021, during which time he has developed and built unparalled expertise in ferrous, non-ferrous and new energy (renewables) markets. Ian is well-known in the commodity industry, and frequently invited as a lecture speaker at conferences and industry events.

Kirk has worked for over 25 years as a sell-side analyst at both traditional investment banks (SBC Warburg Dillon Read, Dresdner Kleinwort) and independent research providers (New Street Research, Redex Research). He has been covering Japanese companies since 2000 and has spent 16 of the last 23 years in Tokyo.