Ayako Hirota Weissman, CFA®
Aya joined the firm in 2010, as a Co-Portfolio Manager for the Asia Strategy. With over 30 years of investment experience, Aya was previously a founder and Chief Investment Officer of AS Hirota Capital Management, LLC. Prior to that, her experiences included acting as a portfolio manager specializing in Japanese securities for Kingdon Capital Management, LLC, a New York–based hedge fund; two years as a partner and Portfolio Manager of Feirstein Hirota Japan Partners, a Japanese long/short hedge fund; and 12 years at Salomon Smith Barney Asset Management, as a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio manager in the US value equity group where she was a founding member of the large cap value equity group, with responsibility for approximately $2 billion in assets. She also worked as a securities analyst covering global technology and consumer sectors at Equitable Capital Management. Aya is a non-executive board member of Toshiba Corp. and was previously a non-executive board member of SBI Holdings, Inc. in Japan. Aya received an MBA from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland and a BA in Liberal Arts from International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. She also studied at Chung Chi College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as a Japanese Ministry of Education Scholar. Aya is a CFA® charterholder. She is a member of the U.S.-Japan Council and serves on its investment committee. She also serves on Japan ICU Foundation’s investment committee.