Partners of Tandem Advisors LLC – Takuma Amano

Takuma Amano has more than 40 years experiences in investment banking, starting as corporate finance specialist with the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch in New York after graduating in 1972 from Harvard Business School, then in Tokyo for Japanese corporate financing, and in London as syndicate manager. During 1980’s as the first derivative head of Yamaichi Securities, he developed derivative-related new products. As managing director (MD) for a joint operation between CSFB and First Boston in Tokyo, he also developed private placement markets for non-Japanese borrowers in Japan and Japan-type cross currency interest rate swaps. Then as senior advisor (co-chief investment officer) to Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) during 1989 to 1991, he managed Saudi Arabia’s huge foreign currency reserves (Oil Dollars) prior to and during the Gulf War period.

In the middle of 1990’s, as managing director and head of the then Swiss Bank Corporation (currently UBS), restructured its investment banking business in Tokyo to respond to the postbubble market in Japan. Then he restructured the US financial software business of CSK Corporation, the largest computer software and service company in Japan and set up a new strategy in Internet-related business.

• Osaka University, BA in mathematical economics.
  He completed a computer programming for a large-scale economic model (an optimum port allocation in the Inland Sea Area in Japan under the seminar professor).

  He started his business career with Sumitomo Metal Industries, where he developed a computer model for budgeting as cost accountant and budget analyst.

• Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration, MBA 1972

Takuma Amano’s written articles

He used to write the monthly market column for the prestigious
Nikkei Financial Journal, contributes to Weekly Toyo Keizai and Diamond Weekly (Japan’s Business Week), the editorial page of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, and appears as economic commentator on Japanese television.

In June 1997, just one month prior to the start of the Asian Economic Crisis, he wrote an article in the Stock Journal, recommending “Getting out of the Asian Equity Markets”.

In June 1998, based upon his actual restructuring experience in Indonesia, he wrote an article of criticizing IMF’ rescue policy in “The
Asahi Newspaper” and in October 1998, an article for recommending Japanese banks to adopt global standard of debt restructuring in ” Financial Business”, the most prestigious financial monthly in Japan.

He and Robert Blohm wrote an opinion on Internet in the Wall Street Journal (October 17, 1996), effectively on the “ New Economy “, where they made the first ever numerical estimate of Internet’s impact on the US economy and coined the expression “The Internet Economy”. They again wrote an article on the unique form of Japan’s capitalism in the Wall Street Journal dated June 24, 1997, and stated that the collapse of Japan’s bubble capitalism was caused by the moral hazard of private companies due to the over-regulation by the bureaucracy.

In July 2007, he warned about the major collapse of the US financial market and its adverse economic impact due to the demise of the subprime market in an article published in the Weekly Diamond (Business Week equivalent in Japan).