Japanese Government Bonds: A New Era

OSAMU KUBOTA was appointed in July 2024 to Director General, Financial Bureau Ministry of Finance, Japan.

Mr. Kubota graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1988 and Yale School of Management in 1992. Through his career in the Ministry of Finance, he had experienced various key positions in the realms of public finance, mainly in budget area.

In 2019, he served as Deputy Director General in charge of JGB and treasury management, Financial Bureau At that time, he led various divisions including the office of debt management and JGB IR team and conducted important activities.

From July 2023 Mr. Yano is working as Deputy Director of the Debt Management Policy Division, managing JGB investor-relations (IR) activities as well as legal issues concerning government debt management.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Yano has nine years of experience with the J-MOF engaging in a broad range of fiscal and financial policy work such as budget planning, development finance and market analysis.

He holds a Master’s of Public Policy from both Kyoto University School of Government, and University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Liew Tzu Mi was appointed Chief Investment Officer for Fixed Income in July 2016 and the department was renamed to Fixed Income & Multi Asset in April 2023. She oversees the fixed income and multi-asset portfolio, which includes investments in macro, corporate credit, structured products, convertibles, alternative credit, and cross-asset systematic investing. She joined GIC in 1998 and built her career in the Fixed Income Department. She was responsible for the emerging markets and foreign exchange business from 2008 to 2010 and headed up the Macro Research & Strategy team at its inception in 2011 as well as the global macro business from 2011 to 2016. She chairs GIC’s Currency Risk Management Committee, which is responsible for managing the currency exposure of the total portfolio, and the Sustainability Committee, which drives the integration of sustainability into GIC’s investment and corporate processes. Ms Liew is a member of the Ministry of Defence SAVER-Premium Board of Trustees and the Central Provident Fund Board.

Ms Liew holds a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in Engineering and Master of Arts from the University of Cambridge, and a Master of Science in Engineering from Princeton University. She has completed the Advanced Management Program from INSEAD.

Masahiro Iwasaki was appointed as Head of FICC, Deputy Head of Global Markets Strategic Planning in 2024, responsible for FICC trading and sales of Daiwa Securities global market division. Prior to his current role, he was the Head of FICC Bond Trading Department, having experience of trading JGBs from 2021. Also headed the Sales Department from 2018, covering both Japanese and Oversea Major investors. He has undertaken a range of roles throughout his 29-year career in Daiwa Securities, basically focusing on Yen Rates.

Joined Osaka Gas in 2002. Assigned to the Ministry of Finance in 2006 as a member of the policy planning and research division of the Minister’s Secretariat covering the Japanese economy and fiscal policy. Joined Nomura Securities in 2008 as a fixed income analyst and economist covering the Japanese economy and monetary policy. Joined SMBC Nikko Securities as an economist in 2011.

Analysis method:
Cover all aspects of the Japanese economy with an emphasis on inflation and fiscal policy outlook given the importance to yen interest rates. Combine the short-term view based on statistical/event analysis with the long-term view as dictated by demographics.

Norman Tweeboom was appointed as Head of Japan in 2021 and is responsible for the overall sales strategy, implementation and all client related services for the country.

Prior to his current role, he was Head of Buyside Enterprise Sales for Asia-Pacific, being responsible for Bloomberg’s buyside strategy, implementation and client services in the region. Based in Singapore, he oversaw regional strategy and business development for Bloomberg’s portfolio and index business and led a team across more than 20 countries in Asia Pacific. He and his team serve financial institutions including asset owners, asset managers, and regional and global banks, in their indices and portfolio analytics requirements.

Norman joined Bloomberg in 2016 following the acquisition of Barclays Risk Analytics and Index Solutions, or BRAIS, where he spent eight years spearheading the market-leading provider of fixed income benchmark and strategy indices, portfolio analytics, risk and attribution models and portfolio construction tools.
Mr Tweeboom started his illustrious career at Lehman Brothers where he was heavily involved in developing the widely-used fixed income benchmark and strategy indices over 19 years across New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Norman earned his Bachelor’s degree from Pace University in New York where he majored in economics and statistics.

Based in Singapore, Kei currently oversees sales and support of FICC electronic trading for the ASEAN region.

During Kei’s 10+ years with the company, he has worked in Bloomberg Customer Support and Analytics, managed sales teams covering both Buyside and Sellside for electronic trading across Equity, ETF, Exchange Traded Derivatives, FX and Fixed Income in Japan, Singapore and the greater APAC region.

When he is not at Bloomberg, Kei enjoys spending time with his wife Yuki, his son Sho, his daughter Shion and their Cavapoo Chewie.

Patricia Or leads government and regulatory affairs in Southeast Asia at Bloomberg LP. In this role, she monitors and analyses policy trends that impact Bloomberg and its clients, and collaborates with senior leadership to develop strategies that align business objectives with market developments. Patricia frequently engages policymakers and industry associations in the region to provide Bloomberg’s views.

Before joining Bloomberg, Patricia spent a decade at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) leading strategies to strengthen Singapore’s position as a wealth management hub, and formulated market conduct and investor protection policies. She was actively involved in the work of international standard-setting and regulatory bodies such as the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF).

Patricia started her career in private banking, advising and managing financial assets of high net-worth clients based in Indonesia and Greater China. She speaks English, Mandarin Chinese and basic Japanese.

Taro Kimura is the Senior Japan Economist for Bloomberg Economics based in Tokyo. He previously worked at the Bank of Japan for 11 years mostly contributing to macroeconomic analysis and forecasts for Japan and outside. He holds a master’s in public administration in international development from Harvard Kennedy School. He also has a publication in “Journal of the Japanese and International Economies”.