Kensho Investment Group

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Our Team

Kensho Investment Board of Directors
Dr. Leonard Meyer zu Brickwedde
- President & CEO,
  Kensho Investment Corporation
- President & CEO,
  Kensho Capital Management
Profile

The founder, president and CEO of Kensho has been at home in Japan for nearly three decades. As head of the Japan branch of Hypovereinsbank, he got into real estate finance when the market for institutional investors was developing from 2000 onwards. From 2004, Dr. Leonard Meyer zu Brickwedde opened the Japan branch of Hypo Real Estate, turning the company into the largest non-Japanese real estate lender in the country. In 2008, Dr. Meyer founded the Kenzo Capital Corporation and made a name for himself as a consultant and fund and asset manager for Japanese real estate. Kenzo launched the first German fund for Japanese residential real estate. After selling the Kenzo fund business, Dr. Meyer started Kensho. The name signals how its business model evolved: the consultant, fund and asset manager Kenzo – the Japanese syllables mean building and creating – is followed by Kensho (building and flying). Under Dr. Meyer’s leadership, Kensho invests in Japanese real estate and accompanies Japanese investors to Germany and Europe.
Ken Nagao
- President & CEO,
  Kensho Realty Corporation
- CIO, Member of the Board of Directors,
  Kensho Investment Corporation
- CIO, Member of the Board of Directors,
  Kensho Capital Management
Profile

The President and CEO of Kensho Realty Corporation has been committed to developing the Japanese real estate market since 2008. Ken Nagao acquired his expertise in real estate development, as well as asset and property management, as a partner in an urban developer in Seattle (USA). After that he was responsible for the growth of a family office for seven years. He then built up a team of advisors for Asian family offices and institutional investors looking to enter the Japanese market. His team convinced clients with their deep understanding of real estate and market analyses from both the macro and micro perspectives, and of the homogeneous integration of real estate in their environment. Within the Kensho Group, Mr. Nagao develops optimal investment strategies alongside investors, and implements those strategies transparently.
Hendrik Bierwirth
- Head of Business Development,
  Member of the Board of Directors,
  Kensho Investment Corporation
- Head of Business Development,
  Member of the Board of Directors,
  Kensho Realty Corporation
- Head of Business Development,
  Kensho Capital Management
Profile

The board member of Kensho Investment Corporation and Kensho Capital Management draws on 10 years of experience of international positions and projects in Japan. After studying economics and cultural studies with a focus on East Asia, Hendrik Bierwirth headed the quality management team for navigation, telecommunications and driver assistance systems at the Japanese subsidiary of the car manufacturer BMW. He then switched to the venture capital side and worked in a leading position with ex-top managers from the Sony Group in a software start-up. In 2021 he completed an Executive MBA from Hitotsubashi Business School in Tokyo. Mr. Bierwirth is a partner in Kensho and leads the group’s corporate development.
Members of Kensho Investment Group
Alex Evans
- System Development,
  Kensho Investment Corporation
Profile

Mr. Evans started his career at the British Council, where he worked at the UK National Agency for Erasmus+, the EU’s flagship €26b international exchange programme. His various roles included assessing grant applications, leading audits of universities as Compliance Manager, and leading the organisation’s QA efforts as Head of Quality Assurance. After moving to Japan, he obtained his MBA from Hitotsubashi University in 2021 and joined the real estate industry as a Senior Analyst. He uses his technical skills, compliance and QA experience, and industry knowledge to support the Kensho Group’s operations.
Blake Golden
- Sales Manager,
  Kensho Realty Corporation (Apts.jp)
Profile

As the sales manager for Apts.jp Mr. Golden strives to make the leasing process as smooth as possible for expats living in Tokyo. After graduating from the Croft Institute at the University of Mississippi with a major in International Studies and a focus on East Asia, he moved to Japan and enjoyed working as an English teacher for 6 years. His career as a leasing agent began in 2020 and he has since assisted many Apts.jp clients with navigating the leasing process in Japan while accommodating their specific needs. Mr. Golden’s drive to constantly upgrade internal processes in order to provide an ever-improving house hunting experience for expats led to his rapid ascension to sales manager in April of 2022. As manager, he has excelled at sales strategies on a macro and micro level, leading to a fast growth in revenue in a short amount of time. In his spare time, Mr. Golden enjoys escaping to the outdoors to camp and barbeque with friends and family.
Miki Kodama
- Investor Relations Manager Japan,
  Kensho Capital Management
Profile

After graduating from Keio University, Miki Kodama spent more than 20 years in the finance department of the Japanese subsidiary of the world’s largest diversified chemical manufacturer. Mainly based in Germany, he also worked as a treasury consultant at the company’s North American financial headquarters. His further career includes significant positions with one of the largest portal site management companies in Japan, head of finance of a company that handles the rental business, bookstores and the database marketing business, and financial director of the strategic subsidiary managing the MVNO business. After acquiring his CFP license, he also worked at a real estate financial company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard market as general manager of business administration. In his role as Relationship officer at Kensho he uses these experiences to serve as a bridge for Japanese and German investors.
Thibaut Lepage
- Sales Agent,
  Kensho Realty Corporation (Apts.jp)
Profile

Mr. Thibaut Lepage arrived in Tokyo in 2010, after graduating from Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III in France. Prior to joining the Apts. jp leasing team in 2020, he started his real estate career in the short to mid-term rental industry, catering to over 400 tenants. Along with being formed by the best veterans in the expat leasing industry, his deep understanding of the city, local culture and language gained throughout his 12 years in Tokyo contribute to providing smooth and efficient service leading to an outstandingly high satisfaction rate. More than just the leasing transactions, clients value him for his overall guidance and help in the context of their relocation in the capital.
Yoko Miura
- Transaction Manager,
  Kensho Realty Corporation
Profile

Yoko Miura has been engaged in real estate related business since April 2004. Starting her real estate career in an asset management company, she engaged in acquisition of private equity funds, asset management, development of office buildings, development of residences for lease. After shifting to a financial institution, she engaged in origination of non-recourse loans for private equity funds, portfolio management and analysis, and loan review operations. In the asset management division of a real estate brokerage firm, she further worked on origination and management of new funds, development of resort hotels, and then moved to another real estate company to work on brokerage services for foreign investors and foreign corporations, lease management, purchase and resale, and M&A. Before joining Kensho’s transaction management team, she was also focusing on asset management for commercial facilities and office buildings. Her wide variety of relevant business experience is a strong asset for Kensho Realty’s core business activities.
Koichi Omura
- Executive Officer,
  Kensho Realty Corporation
Profile

Mr. Omura began his career at Japan’s major survey design company. Afterwards, he moved into the real estate industry, where he performed acquisition, management and sales of office buildings and residential properties in the first instance and at major real estate company. He went further into brokerage of rental properties and sales properties, real estate consulting, fund sourcing, as well as M&A of owner companies of real estate. Mr. Omura is qualified for various licenses related to real estate business, such as a Registered Surveyor, a Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist, an Apartment Management Expert, a Real Estate Consulting Master, a Certified Property Manager, an Affiliated Building Manager, and Affiliated Financial Planner.
Anni Pyykkö
- Sales Assistant,
  Kensho Realty Corporation (Apts.jp)
Profile

Ms. Pyykkö started her career as a librarian in Finland, but a life-long interest in Japan brought her to Tokyo. First navigating the real estate world as a client, she is now committed to help other expats overcome the various hurdles in looking for their ideal home in Japan’s capital city. With extensive customer service experience, knowledge of Japanese language and culture, as well as familiarity with the Tokyo area, Ms. Pyykkö is passionate about making apartment hunting as smooth and easy as possible for clients of the Kensho Group retail brokerage arm, Apts.jp.
Ryuichi Shinohara
- Investor Relations Manager Japan,
  Kensho Capital Management
Profile

The Senior Advisor of Kensho Capital Management has more than 30 years of experience in the Global Markets business in Tokyo, London, and New York and has been in charge of institutional investor management since 2005. Ryuichi Shinohara commenced his career at the Industrial Bank of Japan in 1988 (now Mizuho), where he eventually acted as the head of the bank’s UST and MBS portfolio. He joined Bank of America as Managing Director and Executive Vice President, supervising the global markets business as a board member. After Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch, he spearheaded the US Fixed Income business and US Mortgage business. Afterwards, he worked for Credit Agricole as the Head of Fixed Income Sales, leading the expansion of the securities lending and social impact bond businesses. At Kensho, Mr. Shinohara will leverage his experience and leadership with institutional investors in developing long-term client relationships.
Junya Takahashi
- Head of System Development,
  Kensho Investment Corporation
Profile

The Head of Engineering at Kensho Realty Corporation began his career at Japan’s largest web portal, Yahoo, working as a back-end engineer. Mr. Takahashi then worked as Chief Technology Officer for numerous venture companies, driving their development from 2010. In doing so, he acquired in-depth knowledge of institutional platforms as well as the security and encryption of digitized business processes. In the Kensho Group, Mr. Takahashi heads the digitization of real estate analyses in order to create data-based market transparency for institutional investors.
Tomoyuki Takasaki
- Head of Sales and Brokerage,
  Kensho Realty Corporation
Profile

The Head of Sales and Brokerage at Kensho Realty Corporation worked for a long time as a broker for the large real estate company Sumitomo Real Estate Sales Co., Ltd.. Throughout his brokerage career, Mr. Takasaki brokered transactions with portfolios of residential, office and hotel properties for institutional and private investors. In addition to compliance and fiduciary duties, he pays particular attention to minimizing the risk of real estate transactions. In his brokerage tasks for the Kensho Group, Mr. Takasaki focuses on trusting customer relationships and a high degree of transparency in the selection of properties.
Kazuo Tsukagoshi
- Head of Compliance,
  Kensho Capital Management
Profile

The Head of Compliance has extensive experience in domestic and international corporate finance, investment trust management, overseas asset management, and other custody operations at a trust bank in Japan, particularly during his six years at the New York branch, where he oversaw financing LBOs for U.S. companies, including the Trump Organization. Afterwards, he worked for an U.S.-based consulting company, a Canadian investment management firm, a Japanese hedge fund, and a trading company-affiliated investment management company, gaining broad experience in fund planning, sales, and business administration. He is now managing the Compliance Department, committed to meeting the needs of investors with a focus on relevant laws, policies, and regulations.