[TOKYO (Archyde.com)]- Former comedian Toshiya Imura (38), who is attracting attention as the stock prices of stocks held by Mitsui Matsushima HD, Toyama Daiichi Bank, Sumishi HD, etc. Moved the axis of activities from home to fund management. In an interview with Archyde.com, Imura said that he will not expand his holdings as an individual investor and will focus on his path as a fund manager that “contributes to Japanese households” in the future. .
Imura Brands—This is how the stocks handled by Mr. Imura are called these days. This is because investors are flooded with buy orders just because they are found to be holding the shares. An investment that knows Mr. Imura’s track record for the method of spotting and intensively investing in stocks with alpha (excess earnings), such as a company with an intrinsic value of 10 billion yen that has an amount of 5 billion yen in the market. Houses flock in an instant. Toyama Daiichi Bank and Sumishi Holdings played a stop high after their holdings became clear.
Mr. Imura began full-scale stock investment in 2011 with a capital of 1 million yen. reached 100 million yen. Searching for companies with alpha through thorough research and analysis, he said, “I’ve been hurt many times, but I’ve never stopped investing. I’m sure I’ll continue to invest for the rest of my life.” He says that what drove him to take on the challenge of establishing a fund as a lifelong investor was his desire to give his investments “a social meaning.”
It was around 2019 that I started thinking about managing the fund. He’s taken action before, but he’s reached a stage where “the time is ripe, there’s going to be some action this year.” Mr. Imura is currently formulating an investment policy and business plan with the person who said, “There is no one better than him for his deep knowledge of individual stocks,” and who gave him the opportunity to invest in shipping and coal stocks. . In the early stages, there is a possibility of narrowing it down to professionals, but in the future, in a way that anyone can invest money, he says, “I want to contribute to Japanese households as a big mission.”
He is considering putting his own investment funds into the fund as an option, and is drawing up a blueprint to raise it to a large fund with a total investment of 10 trillion yen in the future. He used to live as an entertainer with an annual income of 30,000 yen, but he gradually made a name for himself as an individual investor, and this time he turned into a full-fledged fund manager who manages other people’s funds. Even if his position changes, his attitude of “obsessing about acquiring alpha” will not change in the future.
At first, he said, “Frankly, I was confused” by the sudden rise in the Imura brand. He checked the titles of all disclosure materials of TSE-listed companies, read the materials in search of changes, and sometimes interviewed them to select the stocks, but he realized that his own investment behavior itself caused stock price fluctuations.
Although he had a lot of thoughts, he recently settled down and said, “I have a sense of responsibility to meet the expectations of the market.” In that context, he not only invests, but also works on proposals for improving corporate investor relations.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Mr. Imura devotes his entire life to investing. Although I secure sleep time, I spend about ten hours on investment, “24 hours from my heart”. Spending time with my family, who create an environment for me to devote myself to investment, is the cost of maintaining the community, and I devote myself to research on Saturdays and Sundays. He has no hobbies other than stocks, and declares, “I can’t beat him when it comes to time and energy. I take pride in spending the most time in Japan.”
Despite his success as an individual investor, Mr. Imura’s life hasn’t become flashy. When he was a comedian, he ate unbranded persimmon seeds for lunch. I still say it often. Recently, however, I have become more concerned about time efficiency and health.
Benjamin Graham’s “The Intelligent Investor”, William J. O’Neill’s “How to Find Growth Stocks”, and Peter Lynch’s “Win with Stocks” are cited as books that formed and impacted Mr. Imura’s investment philosophy. rice field. It is said that most of his own stock selection can be told in these three books. In terms of industries to watch in 2023, he continued to list coal and regional banks, and he is interested in stocks with growth potential even though they were lumped together with growth stocks and sold last year.
*The interview was conducted on December 26, 2018.
(Interviewers: Shinichi Uchida, Mariko Katsumura Editing: Nobuhiro Kubo)