Katsumi Sugiura
Deputy General Manager, Corporate Finance Department, Division 3, Development Bank of Japan
Connecting Japanese investors with natural capital opportunities
The Agri Investor Tokyo Forum on 14 September connected Japan’s leading institutional investors with opportunities in global agriculture, timberland, food, and natural capital.
Build relationships with GPIF, Japan Post Bank, Nippon Life Insurance, Norinchukin Bank, Zenkyoren, and many more who frequently attend our Tokyo events to discover the best outbound investment opportunities.
Join the Forum to discover what Japanese investors are looking for in a global ag investment partner.
Connect with Japanese investors
Join Japan’s leading investors searching for global sustainable agriculture, food, and timberland investments.
Demonstrate your unique value
Showcase your firm’s distinctive advantages to Japan’s leading investors. Grow your business by creating relationships with the key players across the region.
Understand capital allocation tendencies
Identify how new and experienced Japanese investors are creating sustainable portfolios with natural capital investments across global markets.
Meet our Keynote
Yasuyuki Matsumoto
CEO & CIO, The Agribusiness Investment & Consultation
Counsellor on Global Food & Agri Business to the President at the Norinchukin Bank
Mr. Matsumoto shared the latest analysis of the Japanese investor mindset and his unique perspective on natural capital investments in Japan and across the globe.
2022 Confirmed Speakers include:
2022 Confirmed investor attendees include:
View crucial topics shaping the conference
Key agenda items include:
- Japanese investor appetite for natural capital investments
- Understanding how timberland and agriculture can create net-zero portfolios
- Market deep dives: Australia, Europe and North America
- Opportunities to invest in Agtech
- And more.
Attendees at Agri Investor events say
Stephen Meerwald
Harmony Agriculture and Food
Great opportunity to understand what is needed in Ag investment and how different sectors view the opportunity and risks of Ag investments.
Angus Ingram
Kilter Rural
A Pragmatic discussion about deploying capital into agri investments
Tim Findlay
Westpac Banking Corporation
Fantastic networking event and a chance to hear from experts how to make agri investments work.
Post-Event Resources
Discover the industry shifting programme
Understand what Japanese investors are looking for in a natural capital investment opportunity. Contact our producer Andrew Wolff to discuss speaking opportunities.
View agenda page
Agenda
Agri Investor Tokyo Forum - Wednesday 14th
All times in UTC+9
08:30 - 09:05
Registration and Networking
09:05 - 09:15
Welcome Address
09:15 - 09:45
Keynote Presentation: Investing in Food Value Chain and Japanese Agriculture
Yasuyuki Matsumoto
Yasuyuki Matsumoto
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, The Agribusiness Investment & Consultation
Read bio
09:45 - 10:35
Keynote Panel: Getting the lay of the land: why should Japanese LPs be investing in natural capital?
Joji Takeuchi,
Rob Hurlbut,
Chisa Ogura,
Daichi Suzuki,
Yumiko Ito
- Where does agri fit within a standard institutional investment portfolio?
- Which sectors and strategies present the best suitable for Japanese LPs? Understanding the basics of agri portfolio construction.
- How Agri complements the impact/ESG investing portfolio
Joji Takeuchi
Executive Manager, Private Asset Investments, Strategic Fund Investment Group, Asset Management One
Read bio
10:35 - 11:10
Coffee break
11:10 - 12:00
Investor Panel: Japanese investors perspectives on investing in the asset class
Akiyoshi Tanida,
Katsumi Sugiura,
Yoshi Kiguchi,
Yoshito Sakakibara
- Understanding Japanese LP’s appetite for the asset class
- What are the major challenges for investing in agri for LPs? On site due diligence, lack of gatekeeper?
- What is the manager the selection process? How do they select GPs?
12:00 - 13:20
Networking Lunch
13:20 - 14:00
Panel: Spotlight on Australia: Investing in Australia Agri
Daniel Kemp,
Timothy McGavin,
Rob Brooks
- The case for Oz – why can Australian agriculture be a great investment?
- Risk return profiles: how does Australia compare to the US & Europe?
- From farmland to water assets – where do the best opportunities lie?
14:00 - 14:50
Panel: Investing in Forestry & Timberland
Derren Tan,
Takuro Kimura,
Esben Brandi,
Osamu Sugawara,
Tsuyoshi Kato
- Understanding the risk return profile of timberland compared to agri
- How does forestry help diversity the portfolio?
- Timberland in the natural capital portfolio
Derren Tan
Director, Business Development & Investor Relations, Asia Pacific, Manulife Investment Management Timber and Agriculture
Read bio
Osamu Sugawara
General Manager, Asset Management Business Department, Financial Business Division, Mitsui & Co.
Read bio
Tsuyoshi Kato
Deputy Divisional Manager, General Manager of Forest Carbon Sink Business Department, Environment and Resources Division, Sumitomo Forestry
Read bio
14:50 - 15:15
Coffee break
15:15 - 16:00
Panel: The agtech investing opportunity
Shohei Naito,
Shinichi Sasaki,
Akito Arima,
Mari Kogiso
- Understanding the impact of robotics and automation in the agsector
- Agricultural innovation in vertical farming and aquaculture
- Agtech investing success cases studies
16:00 - 16:10
Closing remarks
Explore the event
Pre-Event Resources
View latest trends shaping Japan’s ag investor appetite.
Interested in speaking at the conference? Please contact Andrew Wolff for more information.
2022 Confirmed speakers
Akito Arima
Manager, Venture Capitalist (Agri/Food), Beyond Next Ventures
Akito Arima joined Marubeni Corporation in April 2017. In the Grain Division, he was involved in all aspects of agribusiness from production to sales through the trading business. In addition, he is also involved in start-up investments by setting up… Read full bio
Rob Brooks
Chief Investment Officer, goFARM Australia
Rob is an experienced real assets investment manager having built and managed agriculture and water portfolios for institutional and family office investors in Australia. At goFARM, our purpose is to “Transform Australian agriculture”. We focus on co… Read full bio
Esben Brandi
Head of Business Development, BTG Pactual
Esben is one of the pioneers in the still nascent market for frontier market Timberland Investment. Esben was part of the team managing the world's first global frontier timberland fund established in 2007. Esben was responsible for the origination a… Read full bio
Rob Hurlbut
Managing Director, Agriculture Capital
Rob believes that food is inherently a triple bottom line business, and success in the industry must be measured across all three: Financial, Environmental, and Social. By growing crops that improve the land we create healthy foods that nourish the b… Read full bio
Yumiko Ito
Investment Officer, Agribusiness, Manufacturing and Services - Asia, IFC
Yumiko has over 20 years of experience in financing and investing. She is an Investment Officer at IFC’s Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services Department in Asia, most recently focusing on the department’s overall portfolio management in East Asia… Read full bio
Tsuyoshi Kato
Deputy Divisional Manager, General Manager of Forest Carbon Sink Business Department, Environment and Resources Division, Sumitomo Forestry
Tsuyoshi Kato is deputy divisional manager, general manager of forest carbon sink business department, environmental resources division, Sumitomo Forestry CO., LTD. since January 2022. He studied forest ecology at Kyoto University, conducting a five-… Read full bio
Daniel Kemp
APAC Editor, Infrastructure Investor
Daniel Kemp is APAC Editor for PEI Group’s Infrastructure Investor and Agri Investor, overseeing coverage of the Asia-Pacific region for both titles. He joined PEI in February 2018 and is based in Sydney. Daniel is an experienced B2B journalist, work… Read full bio
Yoshi Kiguchi
Chief Investment Officer, Pension Fund of Japanese Corporations
As Pension Fund of Japanese Corporations’ CIO, Yoshi Kiguchi focuses on innovative investment strategies and products within the fund’s investment horizon. He has more than 30 years of experience in investment and risk management. Before that, Mr. Ki… Read full bio
Takuro Kimura
Chief Executive Officer, G-Cubed Partners, Inc.
• Over 30 years of experience in private equity and project finance with impact, from early to growth-stage ventures/projects, in the agribusiness, manufacturing, healthcare, financial, and logistics sectors in emerging markets (EM), including Asia,… Read full bio
Mari Kogiso
Co CEO, SDG Impact Japan
Mari is an impact investing expert with extensive background in inclusive business, sustainable finance, and social entrepreneurship. Most recently, Mari founded the SDG Impact Japan to promote sustainable finance in Japan and Asia and serve as CoCEO… Read full bio
Yasuyuki Matsumoto
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, The Agribusiness Investment & Consultation
Yasuyuki Matsumoto is Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the Agribusiness Investment & Consultation Co. Ltd. (ABIC) and Counsellor on Global Food & Agri Business to the President of the Norinchukin Bank. He has 30 years e… Read full bio
Timothy McGavin
Founder and Managing Director, Laguna Bay
Tim McGavin is Founder, Managing Director, Member of Investment Committee of Laguna Bay. He is active in the food and agriculture sector for 35 years and a food and agricultural investor for over twenty years, founding Laguna Bay 11 years ago, with e… Read full bio
Shohei Naito
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Nihon Agri
Naito founded Nihon Agri in 2016 to promote and export Japanese agricultural products to other parts of Asia, including Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and to protect and promote branded products like Fuji apples and Shine Muscat grapes. The firm has… Read full bio
Chisa Ogura
Managing Director, Meros Consulting
Chisa has 20 years of experience in research and problem solving related to global agriculture trade, policy, investment and market development. She is the Managing Director of Meros Consulting, which she founded in 2016 together with three partners… Read full bio
Yoshito Sakakibara
Managing Director, Soleil Global Advisors Japan
Soleil Global Advisors provides such cross-border financial services as fund placement and IR on behalf of investment management firms. Soleil’s high-quality, unique and independent intermediary activities come with fully licensed operations and deep… Read full bio
Shinichi Sasaki
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Routrek Networks
Routrek Networks was founded 2005 by Shinichi Sasaki to provide turn key solution of IoT/M2M in the area of not connected market such as energy, healthcare, vehicle and agriculture. Our agriculture product named ZeRo.agri is cloud based autonomous dr… Read full bio
Osamu Sugawara
General Manager, Asset Management Business Department, Financial Business Division, Mitsui & Co.
Mr. Sugawara is General Manager, Asset Management Business Dept., Financial Business Division of Mitsui & Co., LTD. He is responsible for overseeing and developing the asset management business of Mitsui across the globe especially in the real as… Read full bio
Katsumi Sugiura
Deputy General Manager, Corporate Finance Department, Division 3, Development Bank of Japan
Katsumi Sugiura is Deputy General Manager of Corporate Finance, Division 3 in Development Bank of Japan. He has been working for DBJ longer than 25 years since he joined DBJ in 1999 and was mainly in charge of overseas infrastructure related projects… Read full bio
Daichi Suzuki
Head of Business Strategy Team, Alternative Investment Department, Nomura AM
Daichi Suzuki is a Sr. Portfolio Manager and Head of Business Strategy Team at Alternative Investment Department of Nomura AM. At Nomura AM, he is responsible for GP relationship managements and product developments for alternative areas such as Priv… Read full bio
Joji Takeuchi
Executive Manager, Private Asset Investments, Strategic Fund Investment Group, Asset Management One
Takeuchi has been involved in broad range of private asset investments at Asset Management One (AMO). AMO was formed by merging the 4 investment business units under Mizuho Financial Group and Dai-ichi Life Insurance in 2016. As a fiduciary of its cl… Read full bio
Derren Tan
Director, Business Development & Investor Relations, Asia Pacific, Manulife Investment Management Timber and Agriculture
Derren is responsible for the firm’s institutional business development, capital strategy and relationship management functions across the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining the firm in 2021, Derren oversaw the portfolio management of Hostplus’ gl… Read full bio
Akiyoshi Tanida
Foreign Equity and Alternative Investment Department, Nissay Asset Management Corporation
Akiyoshi Tanida is a Deputy General Manager of Foreign Equity & Alternative Investment Department at Nissay Asset Management Corporation, leading real asset investments for Nippon Life’s general account with over 15 years of experience in alterna… Read full bio
Partner with the Tokyo Forum
We help brands meet the right investors, close communication gaps, and maximise exposure among the influential natural capital investment community. Attendees are exclusively decision-makers at the leading Japanese investors and fund and asset managers across the region and globe.
Sponsorship gives you:
- Early access to networking and meet the right investors
- Opportunity to share your thought-leadership
- High-profile branding opportunities
- And much, much more …
Contact James Baker to discuss your branding and thought-leadership options.
Covid precautions
To help keep you and your peers safe, we require you to follow the Covid principles below to ensure the smooth running of the Agri Investor Tokyo Forum 2022.
All attendees must provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination status before checking into the event’s venue. All attendees will be required to wear a filtering face piece mask without a ventilation valve.
To expedite this process, PEI Media and our venue will be using the physical copy of vaccination, or digital proof of COVID-related health insights from the “Tokyo Vaction” mobile App and other government-recognised mobile App. Complete your health screening with the apps ahead of time for expedited check-in and entry. We will NOT be accepting any other form of record of vaccination at the event. We are only accepting physical proof, photos of the vaccination record or digital proof via selected mobile apps.
Questions? Please contact asiaevents@peimedia.com.
The below information is as of 2 September 2022 and will be updated if health, safety and security guidelines change.
What additional measures are being followed at the Agri Investor Tokyo Forum 2022?
We would like to ensure our attendees feel confident as they return to attending our in-person events. Click here for Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo document outlining actions the hotel is taking.
I plan to travel to Japan to attend this conference, what are the current travel restrictions?
Click here to view the latest quarantine measures for inbound travellers.
Do I need to be fully vaccinated or have a negative COVID-19 test to attend?
When you arrive at the event, you’ll need to provide proof that you are fully vaccinated* against COVID-19 according to your national vaccine programme
(*Definition of fully vaccinated varies among cities, however, you will be required to take your 2nd dose at least 14 days before the event i.e. 31 May 2022)
How to show my vaccination
You can present your vaccination record through:
1. “Tokyo Vaction” mobile app,
2. Wakupass mobile app,
3. Other government-recognised mobile app or
4. COVID-19 Vaccination Record (Hard Copy)
1. “Tokyo Vaction” mobile app,
2. Wakupass mobile app,
3. Other government-recognised mobile app or
4. COVID-19 Vaccination Record (Hard Copy)
What do I need to do if I receive my vaccination outside of Japan?
If you had received your vaccination outside of Japan
– Please click here to view the list of recognized Covid-19 vaccines outside Japan
– Guests must prepare and present Covid-19 Vaccination Record (issues outside Japan)
– Please click here to view the list of recognized Covid-19 vaccines outside Japan
– Guests must prepare and present Covid-19 Vaccination Record (issues outside Japan)
Do I need to wear a mask?
All attendees will be required to wear a filtering face piece mask without a ventilation valve in the hotel’s public spaces at all times.
What I need to do before collecting my name badge at the venue?
You must present your vaccination record and measure temperature at the entrance of the venue.
What happens if I cannot attend the event because I have COVID-19 symptoms, have tested positive or am unable to travel due to changes in quarantine rules?
If your membership includes access to an in-person forum, you can join a different forum in-person across a 12-month period.
Will there be any tracking of participants in the event of a positive COVID-19 test result?
Yes, if needed we will be asked to report any cases to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for further handling.