Yasuo Sakuma started investing his own money when he was still a university student, and landed his first job at a major Japanese asset management firm upon graduation. In 1992, he was promoted to fund manager of Japanese equity mutual funds (investment trusts), and in 1999, one of his funds was awarded "Best Fund of the Year 1999" by Morningstar Japan. His achievements are many, and his accolades continue to bring him into the limelight as one of Japan's preeminent stock pickers, earning him praise from Japanese and international investors alike. In April 2002, based on a desire to use his investment skills to their fullest potential, he became the Chief Investment Office of Bayview Asset Management (BVAM). His move to BVAM, or a star manager in the mutual fund industry moving to a specialty shop, was a call for the coming era of boutique investment firms.

Although Yasuo Sakuma, with his charisma and visionary insight, has been featured in a number of media outlets, his management approach is rather orthodox, using a bottom-up approach based on rigorous fundamentals analysis. His basic premise is to first avoid incurring losses before seeking gains. He seeks a clear demarcation between offensive and defensive investing, and has an aversion to whims not based on rational principles. While it may seem conservative, Yasuo's investment philosophy is idea-driven stock selection, in which true value is obtained from stock picks based on fresh inspiration.

Bayview Japan Equity Long Short Fund, managed by Yasuo Sakuma based on bottom-up research, has a track record of over 9 years, and is known as one of the longest running Japanese equity long/short strategies. Also, Yasuo's Japanese Equity Active Plus Fund is a very attactive and uniquely positioned long-only strategy that dynamically controls cash exposure.

• Japanese Equity (Fundamentals Bottom-Up Approach)

[Biography]

Yasuo Sakuma joined Bayview Asset Management Co., Ltd. (BVAM) as CIO in April 2002 and launched the Bayview Fund in July, and he was promoted to Executive Officer in April 2005. Prior to joining BVAM, Yasuo was a senior portfolio manager at Mizuho Asset Management (MHAM), where he began working in 1988 as an analyst. Yasuo was then sent to New York as a fund management trainee at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., and after returning from New York in 1992, he became a fund manager responsible for active investment mutual funds (investment trusts) that principally invest in Japanese equity. Yasuo's "DKA Stock Open Fund (now MHAM Stock Open Fund)" received "The Best Fund of the Year 1999" from Morningstar Japan and "S&P Select Fund Status in 2000" from Standard & Poor's. Yasuo received a B.A. in business and commerce from Keio University in 1988 and is a Chartered Member of the Security Analysts Association of Japan (CMA).