Toshinori Ono: Toward the World's No. 1 PE Fund

I began my professional career at a real estate fund. As a member of a small team, I was managing a 40 billion yen fund on my own. However, in 2007, I decided to pursue my long-held dream of starting a business overseas and co-founded a security printing company in Bangladesh with an acquaintance.

Later, I decided to return to Japan and sold the company I had founded. This experience sparked my interest in the M&A industry. Driven by a desire to work in a field that enhances the growth potential of companies, I decided to enter the world of private equity (PE) funds.

After gaining experience in various M&A advisory services at a Big 4 FAS (Financial Advisory Services) firm, I joined the PE fund ACA in 2010. In 2019, I was appointed as the front-line head of the investment team at Japan Growth Capital, a spin-off from ACA. At these two firms, I built the foundation for small-scale investments by PE funds and succeeded in generating risk-adjusted returns that led investors to regard me as essentially the top performer among domestic funds.

The M&A market for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which accounts for nearly half of Japan's GDP, is growing rapidly alongside the number of brokerage firms due to increasing needs for business succession. Despite this, I felt a massive opportunity existed because funds targeting SMEs manage only about 5% of the industry's capital. Believing there is social value in establishing a fund worth hundreds of billions of yen in the future while specializing in small and micro-cap companies, I founded Marathon Capital Partners in 2021 and went independent.

Furthermore, SME owners often struggle with succession issues. Believing that maintaining a pool of management talent who can serve as successors would be a clear differentiator from other firms, I established the Japan Association for Professional Managers in 2019. Currently, approximately 2,000 management candidates are registered as members. I aim to create an ecosystem where more professional managers can thrive, thereby creating a more vibrant Japan.

Our company's AUM has now grown to 45 billion yen. Our future goal is to manage 500 billion yen in assets while continuing to target SMEs, thereby increasing the productivity of the small and medium-sized enterprises that make up half of Japan's GDP and contributing to the growth of the Japanese economy.