Leadership

Co-Founder and CEO

Minoru Yonekura

Minoru Yonekura co-founded Seven Seas in 2009 and is engaged in the overall management of the company. He served as Managing Director of the Lehman Brothers' Global Real Estate Group, where he was in charge of marketing real estate transactions. He was handling business revitalization and J-REIT listings along with other services. In 1999, he joined the company as Senior Vice President. He was promoted to Managing Director in 2004, then became a member of the Japan Management Committee in 2007.
Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, he worked at the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan for 15 years, where he was involved in securitization and real estate advisory services. He also served as a member of the real estate securitization working group of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, and holds an MBA from the London Business School.

Co-Founder and COO

Kenya Shimono

Kenya Shimono co-founded Seven Seas in 2009 and has served on the Board of Directors, overseeing acquisitions, asset management, and fund management.
He served as Senior Vice President at Lehman Brothers' Global Real Estate Group, where he oversaw debt investment, corporate revitalization investment, real estate investment and a wide variety of other services overseeing the acquisition and asset management functions of the business.
Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, he helped establish the Japan branch of GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., where he was involved in debt investment and corporate revitalization projects. In the sponsoring project for Japan Leasing, a company that was restructured, he was primarily responsible for leveraging assets and human resources from the business transfer to build a new organization. He has helped expand the business not only within Japan, but throughout Asia.
He has served as General Manager in four joint projects for the securitization of non-performing loans with The Resolution and Collection Corporation and has been involved in the final disposal of a regional bank taken over by the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Meiji Gakuin University and attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (for a post-bachelor non-degree program).

Executive Director

Akio Ehara

A founding member of Seven Seas.
Akio Ehara worked at Japan Real Estate Institute and CB Richard Ellis before joining Lehman Brothers in 2001. As Senior Vice President of Lehman Brothers' Global Real Estate Group, he was responsible for purchasing non-performing loans, restructuring debtors' businesses, and enhancing the value of collateral real estate.
He possesses extensive experience in on-site operations and in the management of external consultants. He has played a central role in drafting revitalization plans and collection policies in four joint ventures with The Resolution and Collection Corporation. He has drawn up strategies and planned capital projects that has involved asset repositioning through major property usage change, and acquiring operating assets through forward commitment transactions.
Served as a Board of Director of a sponsor company established to inject rescue equity into a regional bank and to support hospitality and healthcare assets and corporations in distress. Graduated from the School of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University.
Licensed Real Estate Appraiser and Real Estate Notary.

Executive Director

Hirofumi Kusakabe

Joined Seven Seas in 2024 as an Executive Director leading the sourcing activities.
Hirofumi Kusakabe joined the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan (now SBI Shinsei Bank) in 1990 where he worked in corporate finance and distressed debt. Over the past 20 years, he was involved in expanding the real estate financing business and was one of the founding members of the real estate non-recourse loan business.
In 2018, he was appointed Head of Structured Finance, covering real estate finance, renewable energy, shipping/aircraft finance, and LBO finance, and in 2020 he was promoted to Managing Executive Officer of Structured Finance. Graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Kyushu and is a Certified Real Estate Transaction Manager.

Head of Asset Management

Keisuke Inoue

Joined Seven Seas in 2017 as an Asset Management Manager Keisuke Inoue joined Yamaichi Securities Co., Ltd. in 1997, starting his career in asset management and finance.
After holding positions in various roles, Keisuke joined K. K. daVinci Advisors in 2005. He was in charge of managing a portfolio of JPY240 billion and refinancing/exiting JPY260 billion of assets.
In 2011, he was placed in charge of office portfolio management at Asia Pacific Land (Japan) Ltd. Recently, he was involved in portfolio management of Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH, a Germany-based company, at EGW Asset Management, Inc. which he joined in 2015. Keisuke has deep exeperience in managing all asset types including office, residential, hospitality, retail, R&D, and ski resort and has successfully dealt with refinancing, dispostion, and investor reporting.
Holds a master's degree from the Faculty of Economics at Hosei University.

Acquisition Division, Vice President

Kohki Nakamura

Joined Seven Seas in 2015 as Vice President of Acquisition Division.
Koki Nakamura joined Chodai Co., Ltd. in 2006. For the first six years, he worked primarily in the design and mathematical research of road bridges. This was ordered by the national government, local governments, and highway companies in Japan. He was then transferred to a subsidiary in Singapore in 2012, where he was in charge of construction, civil structural design, and design supervision for thermal power plants, condominiums, and general hospitals. A Master of Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo
Professional Engineer (in Construction), Chartered Financial Analyst, and Real Estate Notary.

Head of Investor Relations, Director

Soichiro Ishikawa

A founding member of Seven Seas.
Former Senior Vice President at Lehman Brothers' Global Real Estate Group Soichiro Ishikawa has been involved in real estate companies investments and real estate finance as well as management services such as providing administrative divisions with advice around performance management methods.
Before joining Lehman Brothers in 2004, he worked at Ernst & Young, handling securitization and monetary claims for foreign financial institutions and providing advisory services for company mergers and acquisitions. At The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, he was involved in the liquidation of finance receivables through secondment to group trust banks, as well as securitization consulting and advisory services. Graduated with a degree in Political Science from the Faculty of Law, Keio University.

Head of Legal Compliance

Tomoyuki Iwama

Joined Seven Seas in 2014 as Head of Legal and Compliance Department.
Tomoyuki Iwama joined The Chuo Trust and Banking (now Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank), then worked in fund management roles at Pacific Management Corp. and AIG Global Real Estate Investment Japan Corp.
Tomoyuki rejoined Pacipic Management Corp. to help set up an asset management company for a listed J-REIT and was subsequently appointed as the Compliance Officer, and later appointed as the Legal/Compliance Manager of the Internal Control and Compliance Division at Asia Pacific Land (Japan) Ltd. Graduated from the Faculty of Law at Gakushuin University, has a Real Estate Notary, and is a certified master in The Association for Real Estate Securitization (ARES).

Fund Management Division

Yuta Koichi

Joined Seven Seas in 2022 as Vice President of Acquisition Division.
Yuta Koichi joined the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in 2005. He was involved in developing ministerial ordinances and drafting priority measures at the Policy Bureau. He also had involvement in privately placed real estate fund arrangement at Pacific Management Corp.; CMBS origination, investment execution, and claim monitoring at Merrill Lynch International. He then gained experience in debt and equity financing of REITs at Prologis, Inc., before working at BlackRock Japan, where he was in charge of acquisitions. Graduated from the Faculty of Law at Keio University.

Chief Financial Officer

Yoshiaki Ueno

Joined Seven Seas in 2017 as CFO.
Yoshiaki Ueno joined Asahi Shinwa Accounting Firm (currently KPMG AZSA LLC), where he served as Manager in charge of financial groups at the KPMG London office before transferring to Shinsei Bank in 2003. Starting in 2007, he began working as Controller of Corporate Products Division.
He later joined Barclays Securities and was subsequently appointed CFO of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, overseeing overall financial management operations. Graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo.
Certified Public Accountant and Securities Analyst.

Special Adviser

Kōichi Iki

Appointed as Senior Advisor of Seven Seas in July 2020.
Based on a wealth of experience gained over the course of more than 50 years at Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Koichi Iki was appointed Senior Advisor at Seven Seas to provide advice on a wide range of matters related to company management and to introduce projects and clients using his network of connections.
He served as Vice President and Representative Director of Dai-ichi Life Mutual Insurance Co., President and Representative Director of Dai-ichi Building Co., Ltd., Chairman and Representative Director of DIAM Co., Ltd., Vice Chairman of Japan Real Estate Investment Advisors Association, and External Director of Tokyu Fudosan Holdings.
He currently serves as External Director (member of the Audit Committee) of True Data, Inc. and Vice Chairman of the Lifelong Health and Wellness Association.

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