FigureAsia 35 Under 35 · Finance
Kentaro Kanai
Age 34 · Investment management and corporate control · Japan / Hong Kong
A cross-border investment manager working on corporate-control transactions between Hong Kong capital and Japanese listed companies.
- Age at the edition eligibility date
- 34
- Field
- Finance
- Country or region
- Japan / Hong Kong
- FigureAsia U35 Assessment
- 73.0 / 100
Profile
Career and documented record
Kentaro Kanai works at the intersection of Hong Kong investment management and Japanese public companies. After investment-banking experience, he joined Oasis Management and became its representative in Japan. His most substantial completed record is the 2022 acquisition of listed real-estate company Raysum: he served as a director of the bidder, then joined Raysum's board in January 2023. Those roles place him inside both the acquisition process and the governance that followed it.
In 2025, Hulic's tender offer created a subsequent exit for the Oasis-controlled investment. The transaction record documents how conflicts connected with Kanai's Oasis affiliation were handled during that process. It does not show that he alone originated either bid or determined every term. His defensible contribution is the accountable cross-border role he held through acquisition, board stewardship and exit, supported by his continuing position as the manager's Japan representative.
FigureAsia selection
Why Kentaro Kanai is on the list
FigureAsia selected Kanai for completed corporate-control work in an area where individual contribution is often obscured by a fund's identity. Regulatory filings verify his directorship in the acquisition vehicle, appointment to the target's board and ongoing representative role. This is a stronger agency record than a generic claim based on assets under management or activist publicity.
The selection remains bounded. Tender offers are collective undertakings involving investment committees, advisers, directors and shareholders, and the evidence does not justify sole-credit language. Kanai is recognised for carrying responsibility across a completed investment cycle and for operating between two important Asian capital markets, not for every change in Raysum's results or valuation.
Verified work
The 2025–26 record
Oasis acquisition of Raysum completed
The tender offer succeeded, with Kanai serving as a director of the acquisition vehicle. He subsequently joined the target company's board.
Participated in the documented exit process
A subsequent tender offer by Hulic provided an exit for the Oasis-controlled investment, with formal procedures addressing Kanai's continuing affiliation and board position.
Field context
The work in its field
Cross-border activist and control investing can unlock assets, alter governance and force capital-allocation decisions. It can also create conflicts when a fund's representatives sit on a target board and later participate in an exit. Transparent process and precise attribution are therefore central to assessing the people involved.
Kanai's record is notable because it spans the investment cycle rather than a public campaign alone. The filings make his roles visible while also showing why institutional and individual responsibility must be kept distinct.
FigureAsia U35 Assessment
Assessment breakdown
73.0out of 100
Completed financial consequence
22 / 30
Oasis acquisition of Raysum completed is treated as a delivered financial outcome. The score is confined to the completed result described in the record and excludes projections or paper valuation.
Individual agency and execution
18 / 25
The documented role—Representative in Japan—and the attributed actions in the profile establish accountable execution. Institution-wide results are not assigned to the person alone.
Verified reach and significance
15 / 20
Cross-border activist and control investing can unlock assets, alter governance and force capital-allocation decisions. It can also create conflicts when a fund's representatives sit on a target board and later participate in an exit. Transparent process and precise attribution are therefore central to assessing the people involved.
Innovation and field influence
10 / 15
The record combines investment management and corporate control with the completed work described in Participated in the documented exit process. Credit reflects demonstrated practice, not a claim of novelty by itself.
Stewardship, access and Asian relevance
8 / 10
The Asian connection is explicit: A Japanese investment professional representing a Hong Kong-based asset manager in Japan's public markets. Stewardship credit is limited to the regulatory, governance, access or stakeholder evidence described in the profile.