Topaz comprises of team members with wealth of experience and expertise in areas of corporate finance, business turnaround, debt restructuring, loan/real estate investment and asset finance.

Member

Kiyoto MatsudaChairman

Prior to founding Topaz, Mr. Matsuda was a Partner of Unison Capital Inc., a Japanese private equity firm. Mr. Matsuda started his career at The Industrial Bank of Japan, where he worked in the Business Planning and Corporate Banking departments. From 2002, he was appointed Executive Officer, then Managing Executive Officer at Mizuho Corporate Bank. In 2007, he became Deputy President of Mizuho Securities. Mr. Matsuda holds a B.A. in Economics from Keio University.

Ken NiimuraPresident & CEO

Prior to founding Topaz, Mr. Niimura was Managing Director of Merrill Lynch Japan where he held various senior roles, including Head of Debt Capital Markets and Head of Restructuring Group. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in 2000, Mr. Niimura was Head of Structured Finance of The Industrial Bank of Japan where he was responsible for originating and structuring securitization products. Mr. Niimura holds an M.B.A. from Cornell University and a B.A. in Law from Waseda University.

Makio YamadaHead of Investor Relations, Executive Director

Prior to founding Topaz, Mr. Yamada was Head of Global Credit Sales of Mizuho Securities, where he was responsible for providing Japanese institutional investors opportunities in global credit products and oversaw the firm’s global credit business. Mr. Yamada started his career at The Industrial Bank of Japan where he held various key roles such as head of bond dealings and corporate client coverage. Mr. Yamada is a member of CMA and holds a B.A. in Commerce from Hitotsubashi University.

Takashi NakazonoHead of Investments, Executive Director

Prior to founding Topaz, Mr. Nakazono was Director of Acquisition Division of Goldman Sachs Realty Japan where he was responsible for acquisition and pricing. Mr. Nakazono executed number of notable acquisitions in corporate debt, real estate and distressed assets. Before joining Goldman Sachs in 2001, Mr. Nakazono started his career at Sumitomo Trust & Banking. Mr. Nakazono is a Certified Real Estate Appraiser and holds a B.A. in Law from Kyoto University.

Masaaki IzutaniExternal Member of the Board

Mr. Izutani was appointed as an External Member of the Board of Topaz in April 2024. He started his career at Dai-ichi Life in 1998, where he has developed a long experience and held key roles in planning and marketing at the asset management division of the Group. He is now Head of Retirement, Savings and Asset Management Business Unit of Dai-ichi Life Holdings. Mr. Izutani holds a B.A. in Economics from Keio University.

Naoyoshi MaruyamaManaging Director

Mr. Maruyama joined Topaz in August 2020. Prior to joining Topaz, he was a vice president at Goldman Sachs and engaged in distressed loan servicing, project finance and real estate finance as a team leader. He started his career at Daiwa house industry. He moved to LaSalle Investment Management in 2005 and was involved in asset management for logistics facilities, commercial facilities and office buildings. Mr. Maruyama holds a B.S from the University of Tohoku.

Yoshiyuki SakaneManaging Director, Investor Relations

Mr. Sakane joined Topaz in September 2020. Prior to joining Topaz, he spent 13 years at PIMCO Japan Ltd. where he covered various institutional investors for their asset management. He started his career at at The Industrial Bank of Japan as a portfolio manager in foreign bond investments and then moved to BNP Paribas Japan where he covered financial institutions as clients. Mr. Sakane holds a B.A. Political Science from Waseda University and is a member of CMA.

Shingo MatsuzakiManaging Director

Mr. Matsuzaki joined Topaz in November 2021. Prior to joining Topaz, he was a Deputy General Manager of Mizuho Bank where he was responsible for business with PE fund clients. During the 7 and a half years in Mizuho, he arranged many kinds of LBO financing and engaged in the related business with them as well as monitoring outstanding loans. Before joining Mizuho, he worked for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation where he engaged in LBO financing in addition to shipping project financing. He started his career at Long Term Credit Bank of Japan being in charge of business with corporate customers. He holds MBA from Robert H. Smith School of Business at University of Maryland and BA in Economics from Hitotsubashi University.

Minako EndoManaging Director

Ms. Endo joined Topaz in July 2024. Prior to joining Topaz, Endo was Country Head and CEO of Japan for RBC Capital Markets Japan and Royal Bank of Canada Tokyo Branch, focusing on client relationships and growing platform in Japan. Before joining RBC in 2009, Endo worked at Nomura Securities, Deutsche Securities and Merrill Lynch Japan Securities, as an Institutional Fixed Income Sales. Endo has a BA in International Relations from University of Tsukuba.

Nobuyoshi IguchiDirector

Mr. Iguchi joined Topaz in February 2017 and is mainly responsible for deal sourcing and credit analysis of loan customers. He was the Chief Investment Manager and the Head of Corporate Investment Group of Hudson Japan, an exclusive advisor to Lone Star Funds, and was in charge of analyzing and pricing the assets Lone Star acquired in Japan. Prior to joining Hudson Japan in 2000, he had a 11+ years career at The Industrial Bank of Japan and played key roles in corporate credit analysis, structured finance and project finance. Mr. Iguchi holds B.A. in Civil Engineering from The University of Tokyo.

Hideaki IchinoseDirector

Mr. Ichinose joined Topaz in October 2020. Prior to joining Topaz, he was a Managing Director of Merrill Lynch where he was responsible for originating and structuring non-traditional solutions for Japanese clients, in areas of structured finance, asset finance, and credit asset sales. During the 16 years with Merrill Lynch, he also helped Bank of America Tokyo to build its corporate and commercial banking business with Japanese clients. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, he was a VP at Bankers Trust Tokyo Branch where he gained cross-border structured finance experiences. Mr. Ichinose started his career at Chuo Trust & Banking (now Mitsui Sumitomo Trust & Banking) where he engaged in corporate lending and trustee business. He received his B.A. in Economics from Waseda University and M.B.A. from John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA.

Kazuya KageyamaDirector

Mr. Kageyama joined Topaz in July 2021.Prior to joining Topaz, he was a Managing Director of MUFG Bank where he was engaged in corporate credit analysis, business turnaround and debt restructuring for more than 20 years. He supported many large and medium-sized companies in various sectors to seek turnaround solutions and to make business restructuring plan including debt restructuring. Mr. Kageyama is a member of CMA and holds a Masters’ Degree in Economics and a Bachelor’s in Economics from Kyoto University.

Shigeki KusamaDirector

Mr. Kusama joined Topaz in July 2024. Prior to joining Topaz, he was an Executive Director of Nomura where he was heading various global special situation deals such as M&A/LBO financing, distressed debt sourcing & trading, debt financial advisory for non-Japanese sponsors in distressed M&A, RFP of the integrated resort project in Japan and etc. He started his career at MUFG Bank in charge of the global capital market which includes structured financing business in the New York branch. He holds MPD (Master of Project Design) from the Graduate School of Project Design (Tokyo) and B.A. in Economics from Kanazawa University. Mr. Kusama is a member of CMA and CIIA.

Mitsutoshi AbeDirector

Mr. Abe joined Topaz in April 2024 from Dai-ichi Life where he started his career in 2001. After working both as a credit analyst and a corporate bond portfolio manager, he moved to Risk Management Department to be responsible for investment risk management. Prior to joining Topaz, he was involved in compliance and risk management at Corporate and Structured Finance Department. Mr. Abe is a CFA charterholder and holds a B.A. in Law from Hitotsubashi University.

Masahiro NotoyaDirector

Mr. Notoya joined Topaz in October 2020. Prior to joining Topaz, he was senior analyst at Deloitte Tohmatsu Financial Advisory ("DTFA") and engaged in M&A advisory services. Prior to DTFA, he worked at Mizuho Bank. Mr. Notoya holds B.A. in Commerce from Waseda University.

Yuki KamiyaDirector

Mr. Kamiya joined Topaz in July 2021. Prior to joining Topaz, he was with FWD Fuji Life Insurance Co., Ltd., where he was responsible for internal auditing. Prior to joining FWD, he was a project manager of cost-reduction service at Prored Partners. Before that, he was with Deloitte Tohmatsu Financial Advisory and mainly engaged in Financial Due-Diligence service. He started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata LLC where he engaged in external audit for Asset Management industry companies and their funds. Mr. Kamiya is a member of JICPA and holds a CPA license (US/WA).

Yusuke AdachiAssociate

Mr. Adachi joined Topaz in September 2021. Prior to joining Topaz, he was an associate at Investment Banking Division of Mizuho Securities and engaged in Structured Finance and other Finance services such as PFI, Infrastructure fund, and WBS.Mr. Adachi holds B.A. in Law from Osaka University.

Joon Young KimAssociate

Mr. Kim joined Topaz in February 2023. Prior to joining Topaz, he was in Barings Japan as Japanese mutual fund sales, where he covered a lot of regional distributors and institutional investors. Before Barings, he had experienced Hedge Fund products and data specialist for pension investors in Mizuho Global Alternative Investments. He started his career at an european asset management firm. Mr. Kim holds a Masters’ Degree in Economics and a Bachelor’s in Economics from Hitotsubashi University.

Shun KanekoAssociate

Mr. Kaneko joined Topaz in April 2023. Prior to joining Topaz, he was an associate at GCA (now Houlihan Lokey) and engaged in M&A advisory services. He has depth experiences of deal execution in a wide range of industries. Mr. Kaneko holds a B.A. in Economics from Tohoku University.

Masami NakadaFund Administration

Ms. Nakada joined Topaz Capital in September 2019. Before joining Topaz, Ms. Nakada was with the Citigroup Inc. for more than twenty years engaging in areas of credit card receivable management, retail banking inspection, and accounting. Ms. Nakada started her career at Mitsui Bank (now Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) and holds a B.A. in Law from Meiji University.

Yuko KanaiFund Administration

Ms. Kanai joined Topaz in February 2021. Prior to joining Topaz, she was a fund administrator at Unison Capital from 2016. Ms. Kanai started her career at Apple Japan and was engaged in sales data management at Sales Planning Department and in account receivable collection at Finance Department. She moved to Corporate Planning Department at Chiyoda Group, a plant engineering company where she was involved in corporate accounting.

Mitsuru TanizawaInvestment Committee Member

Mr. Tanizawa joined Topaz as a part-time Director in 2013. Mr. Tanizawa was involved in various capital raising and securitization transactions for financial institutions at Nishimura & Asahi as an attorney. After being seconded to the Financial Services Agency and Morgan Stanley Tokyo, Mr. Tanizawa established Tanizawa Law Office and now serves as an Investment Committee member at Topaz. Mr. Tanizawa holds a B.A. in Law from The University of Tokyo and an LL.M from Columbia Law School. Attorney at Law.

Kunihiko HaraLegal Counsel

Mr. Hara joined Topaz as a Legal Counsel in Aug. of 2021. He has established his law office named "Financial Integrity 360" in 2021. Prior to joining Topaz, he joined Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission(SESC) of FSA in 2019 as a two-year fixed term civil servant. Prior to joining SESC, he changed his jobs to In-house lawyer of DIAM Asset Management (currently, Asset Management One) in 2012, and before that, he joined White & Case LLP Tokyo Office in 2008. He started his career at The Industrial Bank of Japan (currently, Mizuho Bank）in 1986 where he engaged mainly in derivatives business, corporate finance, and secretariat work of response to authorities related to Forex Banking Business (Passed the bar examination during his tenure as a banker). Attorney at Law.

Masayuki KawaharaInternal Auditor

Mr. Kawahara joined Topaz as a part-time Director in 2013 and is the head of Internal Audit. Prior to joining Topaz, he was with Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd., where he was in charge of corporate procedures as corporate secretary and was involved in various corporate reorganization projects. After Goldman Sachs, he established INTRIM Co., Ltd., a legal operational service providing company. Mr. Masayuki Kawahara holds a B.A. in Law from Doshisha University and an LL.M. from Washington University.

So SaitoAuditor

Mr. Saito joined Nishimura & Asahi in 1997 and became Partner in 2008. He has extensive background in areas of securitization, fund structuring, compliance issues for financial institutions, Basel regulations and Fin Tech transactions. Mr. Saito established So Law Office in 2015 and became Auditor for Topaz. Mr. Saito holds a B.A. in Law from The University of Tokyo and an LL.M from New York University School of Law School. Attorney at Law (both admitted in Japan and New York).

Takuto HigashinoExternal Auditor

Mr. Higashino was appointed as an External Auditor of Topaz in April 2024. He joined Dai-ichi Life in 2022 and works for Affiliated Business Management Group. Prior to joining Dai-ichi, he was at Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC and in charge of advising governance and internal control system for global companies. Before that, he spent 12 years at Olympus where he played various roles in such as setting up the group cash management system, establishing the global HQ system, and serving as the secretariat of the third-party committee regarding scandals at the company. He started his career at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Hitotsubashi University.