Every mandate is led by a principal with decades of in-market experience across banking, capital markets, alternative investment management and cross-border transactions.
Mr. Stelli is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Matrix Japan K.K., the Tokyo-based advisory firm he established in 2004 (originally as Matrix Ascent Partners). He has more than 30 years of experience across banking, capital markets and alternative investment management, and leads the firm's overall strategy, client coverage, capital formation and cross-border transaction work.
He has built and manages a five-person team operating two distinct business lines. The Private Placement practice represents global investment managers seeking capital from Japan's mega banks, asset managers, life insurers and pension funds; manager clients have included Brookfield Asset Management, KKR, Angelo Gordon and Temasek Holdings. The Corporate Advisory practice supports Japanese strategic investors — trading companies, government-related investors and multinational corporates — on cross-border acquisitions, joint ventures and direct investments.
In parallel, Mr. Stelli is Co-Founder and Representative Director（代表取締役）of J-Biosciences K.K., a Tokyo bio-venture advisory firm he co-established in 2019 with three partners. J-Bio works with mid-size Japanese pharma and biotech companies to out-license deprioritised therapeutic assets, strengthening originator balance sheets through licensing revenue while typically retaining Japanese patent rights.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Stelli served as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer（取締役）of JAIC Securities Co., Ltd. — the boutique investment bank and wholly-owned subsidiary of TSE-listed Japan Asia Investment Co. — where he led the company's turnaround. Prior to JAIC, he was Director of Strategic Business Development at Caxton Associates, the US$10 billion New York hedge fund, responsible for sourcing and acquiring new investment managers and overseeing institutional client coverage. Earlier roles include Managing Director and Head of Marketing & Business Development at MD Sass Inc.; Managing Director, CEO of Asia Operations and Global Head of Institutional Marketing at Titan Capital Management (London and Hong Kong); and earlier positions at Foreign Exchange Concepts and United States Trust Company / JP Morgan & Co. in New York.
Ms. Gong is Managing Director at Matrix Japan and an accomplished alternative-investments professional with more than 20 years of experience across real assets, private equity and growth capital. Her work spans real estate, renewable energy, financial services and sustainable investment, with deep cross-border execution experience in Japan, the Asia-Pacific region and globally.
Most recently, Ms. Gong served as Senior Vice President of Sustainability at LaSalle Investment Management, where she led the firm's decarbonisation programme in Japan and contributed to its global net-zero carbon fund. Prior to LaSalle, she was Head of Risk & Portfolio for Asia-Pacific at Allianz Real Estate (now PIMCO Prime Real Estate), overseeing a €7 billion regional portfolio and executing landmark transactions including a JPY 130 billion residential portfolio acquisition and a US$110 million re-up in a Pan-Asian fund.
At Mizuho Bank, Ms. Gong led overseas institutional-investor coverage and supported fundraising for infrastructure debt funds, while expanding the bank's renewable-energy and real-asset investment offerings. Earlier, at BCPG Japan (formerly SunEdison Japan), she directed M&A activities including wind and solar project acquisitions across Japan, Italy and Korea, and led the sale of SunEdison Japan to Bangchak Petroleum.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Gong spent a decade at GE Capital — five years on the M&A team, followed by five years on the Real Estate Investment and M&A team, where she executed both new investments and asset dispositions, partnering with global institutional investors throughout her tenure. She led disposals totalling JPY 265 billion. Earlier still, at Nomura Principal Finance, she executed private equity investments including the acquisition of the Huis Ten Bosch theme park and the buyout of Sliontec, a Hitachi affiliate.
Mr. Kuroda is a Senior Advisor at Matrix Japan. He was previously a Managing Director at the firm, leading overall business strategy, client and deal sourcing, direct marketing to investors, capital formation and cross-border M&A transactions.
Mr. Kuroda has more than 25 years of experience in private equity investment in real estate, distressed assets and non-performing loans, as well as in strategic asset management across Tokyo, New York and Los Angeles. Prior to joining Matrix Japan, he was Managing Director and Representative of Oaktree Japan, K.K. — the Tokyo office of Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management L.P. — over a 12-year tenure at Oaktree.
Before Oaktree, Mr. Kuroda worked for two years as Director at Kennedy Wilson Japan Co., Ltd. (formerly KW Investment, K.K.), where he acquired multi-family properties throughout Japan. His other professional experience includes two years with KPMG LLP in Los Angeles as Senior Manager, four years with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (formerly Sakura Bank) in Los Angeles as Vice President, and one year at Kidder Peabody & Co. in New York as Analyst.
Mr. Mason is a senior financial services executive with extensive corporate banking and markets leadership experience across Japan and the United Kingdom.
Most recently, he served as Country Head for ANZ Japan, overseeing corporate banking, markets, and project and structured finance — with key client relationships across Japanese property development, real estate and construction. Previously he was Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer for Bank of America Japan, directing strategy and operations across corporate and investment banking and markets.
Earlier, Mr. Mason spent more than a decade with Deutsche Bank. As Managing Director, UK COO and Branch Manager of Deutsche Bank AG London, he led operations for the bank's largest international hub — 12,000 professionals across the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands. Previously he was Managing Director and Regional COO in Tokyo, with a particular focus on expanding the markets business across the region. He also held earlier consulting and technology roles in the United States and Japan.
Mr. Mason serves on the National Advisory Council of the BYU Marriott School at Brigham Young University.
Mr. Muraki is responsible for strategic investments, M&A transactions and specific cross-border joint venture opportunities at Matrix Japan.
He began his career at Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC Warburg) in Tokyo, advising Japanese companies on investment-banking services across Tokyo, London and Zurich. After SBC Warburg, he joined the World Bank Group in Washington DC in 1996, working on financial-sector restructuring in Asia and on investment projects with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In 1998 he was appointed to the Bank's representative office in Seoul, responsible for capital-market restructuring, the restructuring of chaebols, the privatisation of nationalised financial institutions, and the establishment of the Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO).
In 2003 Mr. Muraki joined the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan (IRCJ), where he was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Kanebo Cosmetics Inc. — IRCJ's largest equity investment, successfully exited to Kao Corporation. After leaving IRCJ in 2006, he joined the Tokyo Stock Exchange to focus on international business development and overseas investments, and was subsequently appointed CEO of TOKYO AIM, a joint venture between the TSE and the London Stock Exchange Group. In 2012 he relocated to Singapore to establish a consulting and advisory office under Frontier Management, bridging investment opportunities between Asia and Japan with former IRCJ colleagues.
Mr. Henderson supports Matrix Japan on firm strategy and operations, and on funds and cross-border transactions across financial services, energy and real estate. He has 35 years of financial-sector experience, including 23 years in institutional research, sales and trading.
He worked in London, New York and Tokyo for Robert Fleming / Jardine Fleming — subsequently acquired by Chase and integrated into JP Morgan — and later served as Branch Manager and Head of Macquarie Securities Japan, building extensive Asia and US relationships and broad experience setting up, growing and managing businesses.
After leaving investment banking, he co-founded Bendigo Partners LLC, a private investment and consulting firm focused on financial services. He served on the boards of Prospect Co. Ltd. (eight years) and Akatsuki Corporation (seven years), developing deep familiarity with retail brokerage, real-estate development and renewable energy (biomass and solar). He currently serves as Senior Advisor to both companies. Originally from England, raised in Japan and educated in the UK, he graduated from Durham University and is fluent in Japanese.
Mr. Howe contributes to firm strategy, client-manager selection, review and due diligence, as well as direct marketing to institutional investors across Pan-Asia.
He joined AIG Global Investment Corporation in 1998 as Chief Investment Officer — AIG's third-party asset-management company, then a joint venture with Mitsubishi Trust. He assumed the role of President in 1999 and became Chairman in 2003, with responsibility for Japanese equity long-only strategies, supervision of all managed and sub-managed strategies, and approval and in-person marketing of the Japanese equity products.
In 2004, Mr. Howe won the Morningstar #1 Japan Fund award. As a veteran global investor, he served as one of five members of AIG's Global Asset Allocation Committee. He was a founding board member of the CFA Society in Japan.