Released on: June 2, 2008, 3:44 am

Press Release Author: Opalesque Ltd

Industry: Financial

Press Release Summary: ** Endowments, sovereign wealth funds and large global hedge
funds come back to Japan - What do they see? Japan based hedge fund managers
confident: best investments found now
** Japan\'s largest private-sector pension fund manager, the Pension Fund
Association, confirms trend towards absolute return vehicles, hedge funds for
portable alpha strategies


Press Release Body: Tokyo June 2nd, 2008 -- Opalesque, the world\'s largest
subscription-based publisher covering the alternative investment industry, has
launched the fifth issue of its acclaimed regional Roundtable scripts, the
"Opalesque Japan Roundtable".

The Opalesque Japan Roundtable will be closing the 2008 coverage of the Asian hedge
fund centers after having covered New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong
(see here for Roundtable Archive: www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archiveRT).

The Opalesque Japan Roundtable was sponsored by Nikko Citi Prime Finance
(http://www.nikkociti.com) and took place in their Tokyo office. Opalesque thanks
Ed Rogers from Rogers Investment Advisors for helping to put the group together.

After a stellar performance in 2005, Japanese hedge funds were struggling in 2006
and 2007. Is 2008 the turn-around year? The good news is that endowments, sovereign
wealth funds and large global hedge funds are coming back to Japan. What
opportunities do they see? In this Roundtable script, you will learn:

* Background on Japan hedge fund performance and the state of the economy
* Will macro (economy) or micro (corporate governance on company level) catalysts
drive the markets going forward?
* Why activist investors and activist hedge funds have been very beneficial for Japan
* Will the Japanese version of the Basel II rules still prevent regional banks to
rebuild their hedge fund allocations?
* How do Japanese pension funds and insurance companies view and use hedge funds?

The participants of the Opalesque Japan Roundtable are:

1. Angus McKinnon, Senior Partner, Tozai Investment Advisory
2. Nobuki Yasuda, Director of Alternative Investment, Pension Fund Association
3. Goro Ohwada, CEO, Aino Investment Corporation
4. Kenichiro Nishi, CEO & CIO, Gaia Capital Management
5. Scott Callon, Partner/CEO, Ichigo Asset Management
6. Rory Kennedy, COO, United Managers Japan (UMJ)
7. Andrew Hill, Director, NikkoCiti
8. Koichi Shijima, Director, NikkoCiti
9. Atsko Nakajima, Director of Hedge Fund Investments, Ueda Yagi Securities Co.
10. Hideki Hashiguchi, Lead Representative, HSBC Global Fund Services
11. Toshihiko Nishida, Portfolio Manager, GCI
12. Isao Tomoyuki, Chief Investment Officer, Stats Investment Management
13. Rick Okuno, Rheos Capital Works


The Opalesque Hong Kong Roundtable Script can be downloaded
here:http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=static&and=RoundtableJAPAN

All other previously published Opalesque Roundtable Scripts (New Zealand (March
17th), Australia (March 25th), Singapore Roundtable (April 24th), Hong Kong (May
1st)) can be downloaded here: http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archiveRT

Matthias Knab, Director of Opalesque Ltd, moderates the Opalesque Roundtables.
Matthias Knab is an internationally recognized expert on hedge funds and
alternatives and has frequently served as chairman of hedge fund conferences in New
York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Miami, Bahamas, Stockholm, Dubai etc. In addition,
he has presented or moderated at hedge fund events in Sydney, Cape Town, Madrid, and
Bombay, and lectured at numerous universities on the subjects of hedge funds and the
state of the global alternative asset management industry.

About Opalesque:

Opalesque leads the finance media space for its in-depth and innovative products.
Since February 2003, Opalesque is publishing Alternative Market Briefing, the
premium news service on hedge funds and alternatives. The launch of these Briefings
was a revolution in the hedge fund media space (\"Opalesque changed the world by
bringing transparency where there was opacity and by delivering an accurate
professional reporting service.\" - Nigel Blanchard, Culross) combining proprietary
news with the "clipping service" approach of integrating third party news. Each
week, Opalesque publications are read by more than 360,000 industry professionals in
over 100 countries.

Opalesque is the only daily hedge fund publisher which is actually read by the elite
managers themselves (http://www.opalesque.com/op_testimonials.html). For more
information, please go to http://www.opalesque.com.


About Opalesque publications:

Alternative Market Briefing:

A daily newsletter on the global hedge fund industry, highly praised for its
completeness and timely delivery of the most important daily news for professionals
dealing with hedge funds. Alternative Market Briefing offers both a quick overview
and in-depth coverage. Subscribers can also access the industry's largest news
archive ( 26,000+ articles ) on hedge funds and related topics.

A SQUARE:

Opalesque A SQUARE = Alternative Alternatives is the first web publication,
globally, that is dedicated exclusively to alternative investments. A SQUARE\'s
weekly selection feature unique investment opportunities that bear virtually no
correlation to the main stream hedge fund strategies and/or distinguish themselves
by virtue of their \"alternative\" motive - social, behavioural, natural resources,
sustainable /environment related investing.

With its \"research that reveals\" approach, fast facts and investment oriented
analysis, A SQUARE offers diversification and complementary ideas for: private, high
net-worth and institutional investors, pension funds and endowments, portfolio and
hedge funds managers.

Technical Research Briefing:

Delivers three times a week a global perspective/overview on all major markets,
including Equity Indices, Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities. Opalesque
Technical Research is unique compared to most available research which is
fundamental in nature, and not technically (chart) oriented.

Opalesque Roundtable Series:

In an Opalesque Roundtable, we unite some of the leading hedge fund managers (single
and multi strategy managers) as well as representatives of the local investor base
(institutions, fund of funds, advisers) to gain unique insights into the specific
idiosyncrasies and developments, the issues and advantages of individual global
hedge fund centers.

No matter if you are a hedge fund investor looking for new talent, a hedge fund
interested in diversifying your investor base or a service provider looking for new
clients, you will get to know some of the leading heads of each hedge fund center
and find invaluable information and intelligence right on your desk, without any
travel involved.

For more information, please go to http://www.opalesque.com


Web Site: http://www.opalesque.com/

Contact Details: Opalesque