Key Takeaways
- • Investment Lab partner and CEO Naohide Une, speaking at the Next Wave session of Sohn Tokyo 2026, argued that a Japanese cement and caprolactam conglomerate trading at 0.75x book value is undervalued and misclassified.
- • According to Une, the company is closing its commodity businesses one by one, while its specialty materials arm now accounts for half of group profit.
- • The company carries a forecast dividend yield of 4.7%, which Une framed as income investors collect while the broader market catches up to the restructuring.
- • Une's broader thesis is that Japan's corporate change is slow but durable: earnings have risen for 15 years despite a shrinking population, and governance reform has taken hold.
Summary
Naohide Une, partner and CEO of Investment Lab, used his Next Wave session at Sohn Tokyo 2026 to make the case for a Japanese chemicals maker that the market still values as its former self. Trading at 0.75 times book value, the company is still widely associated with its legacy cement and caprolactam operations. Une argued that this label is out of date. He said the company is exiting its commodity businesses one at a time while its specialty materials division has grown to represent half of group profit. Shareholders, in his view, are paid a 4.7% forecast dividend yield while the market reassesses the business.
Une's pitch rests on a broader view of Japanese equities. He told the audience that Japan is slow but steady, and that once structural change begins it tends to compound rather than reverse. He cited 15 years of rising corporate earnings despite a shrinking population, and said governance reforms that few expected have now been implemented.
Une's background spans Goldman Sachs, where he spent fifteen years as a derivatives trader before running flow derivatives trading across Asia, Japan Post Bank, where he led investment strategy reform, and a stint as COO of one of Japan's largest private equity firms. He founded Investment Lab in 2020 as an independent Tokyo asset manager. The firm runs hedge fund and long-only strategies in Japanese listed small and mid caps for professional investors, operates a venture capital arm focused on later-stage Japanese startups, and advises overseas funds investing in Japan.
The source is a Hedge Fund Alpha write-up of the conference presentation, published October 19, 2026. The article does not disclose the company's name, so the valuation and yield figures are presented as Une's stated views rather than independently verified data.
Une's pitch rests on a broader view of Japanese equities. He told the audience that Japan is slow but steady, and that once structural change begins it tends to compound rather than reverse. He cited 15 years of rising corporate earnings despite a shrinking population, and said governance reforms that few expected have now been implemented.
Une's background spans Goldman Sachs, where he spent fifteen years as a derivatives trader before running flow derivatives trading across Asia, Japan Post Bank, where he led investment strategy reform, and a stint as COO of one of Japan's largest private equity firms. He founded Investment Lab in 2020 as an independent Tokyo asset manager. The firm runs hedge fund and long-only strategies in Japanese listed small and mid caps for professional investors, operates a venture capital arm focused on later-stage Japanese startups, and advises overseas funds investing in Japan.
The source is a Hedge Fund Alpha write-up of the conference presentation, published October 19, 2026. The article does not disclose the company's name, so the valuation and yield figures are presented as Une's stated views rather than independently verified data.
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