Speaker Bio: Kazuya Wakimoto of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank MTD TV Productions

Kazuya (Kazu) Wakimoto has 30 years of professional experience in real estate business in Japan. Since 2022, he has been leading the inbound and outbound real estate businesses as the General Manager of the Global Real Estate Planning and Promotion Department at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

He joined Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in 1992 and has been involved in land trusts, real estate brokerage, real estate trusts, and real estate fund consulting businesses. He has originated and executed various real estate fund transactions, including J-REIT setups and management advisory, private fund origination with pension equity, and J-REIT M&A arrangement.

Since 2012, he has worked in the Global Real Estate Planning and Promotion Department and been responsible for cross-border real estate transactions such as advisory services for a variety of overseas investors with their investments in Japan, S-REIT setup consulting, and more. During the last 12 years, the department has transacted with more than 150 deals with overseas investors, and he has also been involved in more than 100 transactions of various types of properties including hospitality properties in various areas in Japan. He is also in charge of the alliance with Knight Frank globally.

He received a bachelor’s degree in law from Waseda University and an MBA from the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. He is a Licensed Real Estate Appraiser, a Licensed Real Estate Broker, and a National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter. He has published four real estate business books, including “The Fundamentals of Japanese Real Estate.”

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited (“SuMi TRUST Bank”), one of the largest Japanese trust banks in terms of total trust account assets, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc. (Japan TSE 8309) and forms the core of the SuMi TRUST Group.

SuMi TRUST Group is the only financial group in Japan specializing in the trust banking business. By synergizing its banking and trust-related businesses (including real estate and asset management/administration), SuMi TRUST Group achieves a high proportion of fee income compared to Japan’s three largest commercial banking groups. The diversified group companies enhance the group’s business strategies and performance with their high level of expertise.

The real estate business boasts a large number of professionals, providing a comprehensive range of services from brokerage to securitization and investment management. These services cater to the real estate-related needs of a wide range of clients, including corporations, investors, and individuals both in Japan and overseas. Leveraging extensive networks and highly specialized business know-how, we have established a strong brokerage track record across various uses and sizes, including large-scale deals with the highest market share in the industry. Through our banking relationships with Japanese corporations and networks of affiliated regional financial institutions, we gain a broad understanding of the information of companies and local enterprises that operate nationwide. Utilizing our robust business foundation and extensive network, we are committed to delivering exceptional services to our valued clients.

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