Jesper Koll

Profile

Senior Advisor, Wisdom Tree Investment Inc.

Jesper Koll has been researching and investing in Japan since becoming a resident in 1986. Over the past two decades, Jesper has been consistently recognized as one of the top Japan strategists/economists, having worked as Chief Strategist and Head of Research for U.S. investment banks J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch. He currently serves as Expert Director for the Monex Group and the Japan Catalyst Fund (Japan’s 1st retail investor based corpo- rate engagement/activist fund). His analysis and insights have earned him a position on several Japanese government and corporate advisory committees, including Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike’s Advisory Board. In 2022, he was appointed Global Ambassador for Tokyo’s Financial Center initiative. Jesper serves as a member of Board of Governor of OIST, the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology and is a Founder and Board Director of the Asia Society Japan and heads their Policy Committee. He is one of the few non-Japanese members of the Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives; and serves on the board of several Japan-based start-ups. He has written three books in Japanese and, in 2021, created the acclaimed video/pod-cast series “Japan - Capitalism that works”.
Jesper is an economist, angel-investor, patron; and yes, a Japan Optimist.

Read article "What Finance and Science Have In Common: Innovation Comes from Open Minds"

Experience
May 1989
Managing Director & Chief Economist, SG Warburg Securities Japan (until June 1994)
Jul 1994
Managing Director & Chief Economist, JP Morgan Japan Securities (until June 1997)
Jul 1997
Managing Director, Tiger Fund Investment Mgt. (until June 1998)
Jul 1999
Managing Director & Chief Economist, Merrill Lynch Japan Securities (until June 2008)
Jul 2008
Chief Executive Officer, Tantallon Research Japan (until November 2009)
Dec 2009
Managing Director & Head of Equity Research, JP Morgan Japan Securities (until June 2015)
Jul 2015
Chief Executive Officer, WisdomTree Japan Inc (until February 2019)
Mar 2019
Senior Advisor, WisdomTree Investments Inc.
Oct 2019
Managing Director, Octave Japan Co. Ltd
Advisor, MizMaa Ventures
Senior Global Advisor, Japan Catalyst Inc.
Service
Founding Member & Head of Policy Committee, Asia Society Japan Center
Board Member, Hands-On Tokyo
Jesper Koll portrait image
Jesper Koll
Senior Advisor, WisdomTree Investments Inc.
Founding Member and Head of Policy Committee, Asia Society Japan Center