We bring together the analysis, strategies, and execution needed to unlock each asset's value.
Over the years we have worked on a wide range of engagements — real estate, M&A, tender offers, shipping, cross-border partnerships, and more. Because every engagement is different, we draw on financial analysis, business analysis, industry analysis, AI, and whatever combination of methods the situation calls for.
Like the soliton wave for which we're named, we try to hold a steady strength while adapting flexibly to a fast-changing environment, working to raise the value of the companies and assets entrusted to us. (The story behind the name appears further down this page.)
Kenji Konno began his career in due diligence for offshore funds at Ernst & Young Global Financial Services, before moving into investment analysis of high-yield loans, non-performing loans, and private equity at Lehman Brothers Securities and, from 2008, Deutsche Securities. As Japan Head at Merrill Lynch Japan Securities, he led asset-finance investment across Asia, including solar power and shipping. He then served as Japan–Korea head of Risk Solutions at Standard & Poor's, advising on internal (IRB) model implementation across industries, before moving to Japan Post Bank's credit investment division to analyze bonds, bank loans, and direct lending. He founded the company in 2020.
This continuous track record — due diligence, credit analysis, private equity, asset finance, risk analysis, and investment — underlies the firm's financial analysis and business advisory work today. He holds an MBA from Pennsylvania State University.
↑ Back to MembersAfter joining The Hiroshima Bank and being assigned to its Loan Department No. 2, Yuichi Tarutani spent his career on the front line of restoring distressed assets — credit review, workout and collection, loan securitization, and arranging — including helping establish Shimanami Servicer. He later joined Capital Servicing as a senior asset manager for high-yield assets at the request of Lehman Brothers Securities, then led corporate turnaround work, including DIP financing, by pairing Lehman Brothers Securities with a law firm where he served as office director. He went on to work as a project manager on turnaround cases at a corporate revitalization and succession consulting cooperative, and served as Representative Director of Kagayaki Co., Ltd., before joining the company in 2020.
His strength lies in combining a bank insider's view of non-performing loan resolution with a turnaround professional's experience running corporate revitalization from the outside. He is co-author, with Masaaki Teraoka, of works including "A New Approach to Supporting SME Management" and "Assessing Business Viability: A Veteran Lender's View."
↑ Back to MembersHirohide Sato began his career in M&A brokerage and as executive assistant to the president at Takenaka Partners, an independent M&A firm. He then set up and ran finance, investor reporting, and fund operations at a series of debt-collection firms — Premier Servicer, Millennium Servicer, and Capital Servicing. At Ethos Japan LLC, he served as a director of portfolio companies spanning golf, hospitality, and real estate, working from inside the business to deliver operational improvements. At Octoforce Management, he worked on M&A advisory and corporate turnaround support. He joined the company in 2020.
What sets him apart is hands-on experience across the full arc of an investment — from M&A brokerage, through fund operations, to turning around the companies invested in. He is also a U.S. Certified Public Accountant.
↑ Back to MembersMasaaki Teraoka began his career at The Hiroshima Bank, handling corporate credit review and management-improvement support in its Loan Department No. 1, before an assignment to the Resolution and Collection Corporation. Back at the bank, he led credit-rating review in Risk Management and built the bank's lending-staff training program in the Loan Planning Department. He founded and led FTS Co., Ltd. as its Representative Director, then joined Kagayaki Co., Ltd., before joining the company in 2020.
He remains active today as a lecturer and speaker on credit review and business viability assessment for organizations including the Regional Banks Association of Japan, the National Association of Shinkin Banks, individual financial institutions, the Institute for Financial Affairs, credit guarantee corporations, and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. He is the author of works including "A Training Course in Business Viability Assessment," "A Veteran Lender's Playbook," and "A Veteran Lender's Guide to Client Engagement."
↑ Back to MembersSolitons can be found in many phenomena throughout the natural world. Examples include tsunamis and ocean currents, the large waves enjoyed by surfers, auroras, the flow of blood, the behavior of genes and DNA, and even the formation of black holes. Even within complex environments, a soliton maintains its form while carrying and transmitting energy in a stable manner. In what may appear to be a complex and disorderly phenomenon, there exists a certain form of “order.”
For example, as a large wave travels from offshore toward the shore, it grows larger while maintaining its form rather than simply breaking apart. Surfers skillfully ride these waves and enjoy the experience of surfing. In this sense, it could be said that surfing itself would not exist without solitons. (Adapted in part from Yasuzumi Tsuboi, What Is a Soliton?)
We see a similar idea reflected in modern AI. AI handles enormous amounts of information and parameters, and through self-attention, it captures relationships between pieces of information—even those that are far apart—enabling it to adapt to diverse languages and environments. Within what may appear to be a chaotic and disordered world of information, there are patterns and underlying principles. To identify those relationships and discover the essential patterns and order within complexity is what we associate with a soliton. We express this idea in the phrase, “Finding the soliton within chaos.” Like a soliton, we strive to remain adaptable amid change, identify what is essential within complexity, and transform it into meaningful value. Through this approach, we aim to create new value together with our clients and continue to grow as a stable and resilient company.