Omichi brings more than 20 years’ experience of working with institutional investors and distributors, most recently in senior roles at BlackRock Japan. He will be supporting clients at an important moment for Japan’s economy and capital markets.

The opening reflects growing two-way demand, the firm said in a statement. On the one hand, global institutional investors are increasing their focus on Japan opportunities. On the other, Japanese asset owners, energised by the new dynamism of the domestic economy, are looking outwards with renewed optimism, are seeking investment insight to create global portfolios across both public and private markets.

With experience of working with public/private pension funds and distributors, Omichi is well placed to capitalise on opportunities as Japan’s economy and capital markets look set to enjoy a sustained recovery, the firm continued. More broadly, with the addition of Tokyo, bfinance is strengthening its Asia Pacific (APAC) presence in Hong Kong and Australia. 

The new office adds to a global footprint now spanning 12 locations, also including London, Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, Rome, Chicago, Toronto, Montréal and Dubai, the company’s hub for the Middle East and Africa.

A sustained focus on corporate value creation, capital efficiency, continued momentum in shareholder engagement and corporate action is reigniting interest in Japanese capital markets. Inflation is now close to the Bank of Japan’s 2 per cent target and there are high hopes that the new government will successfully shift towards growth-orientated policies. 

bfinance has seen strong demand in Japan for the full range of private markets, and particularly for income-generating asset classes such as infrastructure equity and debt. Diversifying liquid strategies have been another source of strong demand as Japanese investors seek to optimise long-term returns and manage risks in a low-yield environment, as Japanese interest rates slowly normalise in response to the return of moderate rates of inflation. 

The company said it has observed a good appetite for low-volatility, market-independent hedge fund strategies in Japan. The Tokyo office will bring bfinance closer to clients and market participants in Japan, combining local presence with the firm’s global research and implementation platform, the firm added.

After Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide general-election victory gave Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi full powers to push on with her reflationary agenda, Japanese stocks jumped to a high. A number of investment managers such as Paris-based Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, Amundi and SuMi TRUST, a large Japanese asset manager, are also positive about Japanese equities in 2026. See here and here.    

Among international firms setting up an office presence in Japan are Coller Capital, which deals with private market secondaries investments. Coller opened a Tokyo office in December 2025. In 2022, Leo Wealth, the international wealth firm borne out of a merger last year, opened an office in the city to expand its global footprint and US tax practice.

In 2024, WealthBriefingAsia explored the field of Japan's nascent venture capital sector, one that is relatively under-developed when compared with the US market, for example.