Mike is genuinely unique in his coverage. Specifically, while there is no shortage of sell-side analysts who expend the bulk of their energy attempting to make calls on the next quarter to be reported (and have an extremely limited ability to map out the quarters that will follow), Mike stood out in a very meaningful way as his perspective was consistently useful on a 1-2 year basis. His analysis on major names (Fast Retailing, Ryohin Keikaku, Matsumotokiyoshi, Pan Pacific come to mind immediately) proved to help investors look out 6, 12, and 18 months with far greater accuracy than I have seen from sell-side analysts in my time. Mike’s understanding of the companies is deep, but equally importantly, he was able to translate that understanding into excellent recommendations, which is frankly very uncommon. Any medium- to long-term investor interested in Japan would benefit hugely from having Mike on their team.

We have read Mike’s work for many years and find him to be one of the most knowledgeable analysts on the Japanese Retail industry.

Mike has a strong fundamental background and his unique ability to combine unique macro data points to stock specific analysis makes him a talented analyst.

Mike has a great experience in Japan equities especially in retail industry. His research is differentiated from other analysts as he uses a lot of different data, in addition to normal fundamental analysis. He has a deep understanding in Japan market, which makes him possible to have a long-term investment view.

Mike is a terrific analyst – does the numbers properly and happy to take a contrarian view. Focused on the end result and not research just for the sake of it.

Mike is tenacious, dedicated and passionate about equity investment. He is a highly talented generalist researcher, with extremely strong Japan background. He has expanded his professional footprint from Japanese retail sector analyst to quant-driven portfolio management for the global markets, including the US as well as greater Asia. His point of view is worth paying attention to.

Michael is the most broadly knowledgeable analyst on Japan that I have met in my twenty-four years in the Japanese equity market. His experience in the quantitative fund world adds a dimension rarely seen in the industry. I highly recommend him as an analyst and generator of alpha producing investment ideas.

Mike carries out in depth research, has innovative ideas and a thorough knowledge of Japan and International markets. He will follow through with his ideas to ensure they translate into business and executed deals.

Michael’s work was extremely innovative at the time. Fifteen years on, you can see his hallmark in all the research on the Japanese retailing sector.

Michael made great use of his highly-developed analytical skills and market experience in his analysis of companies during the years that we worked together at BZW Securities. He was a professional colleague, responding to requests thoroughly and promptly. As an economist who has worked in investment banking for decades, I am familiar with the work of many analysts. Michael is in the top tier.

Mike hired me at ING Barings in early 1997 and I think it is fair to say I would not have come as far as I have in this industry without the start he gave me on the sell side. He has an exceptionally bright and enquiring mind and, rather remarkably, has not lost any passion for Japanese equities at all over the last 15 years! He regards Japan as a wonderful place in which to make money and of course has a wealth of experience under his belt, both as a highly-ranked sell-side retail analyst and on the buy side with shops such as Japan Advisory (Whitney). There aren’t many people out there with the experience, out-of-the-box thinking and the drive that he has to offer. I commend him wholeheartedly to you.

In my time working with Mike, he was a consistently thorough, prescient and hard-working retail sector analyst – as well as a pleasure to work with.

Michael is a talented analyst. He is passionate about his work and has a gift for keeping ideas streamlined and grounded in reality. He is an asset and a nice guy as well.

Mike Allen was my mentor when I was at ING Barings and then a great colleague when we worked together at Whitney Japan Advisory, a hedge fund. His deep knowledge of financial accounting was extremely helpful for me in learning how to analyze and pick automotive stocks when I was at ING Barings. His “thinking outside of the box” style of stock-picking won praises from his clients and this was an inspiration to me as a junior analyst. While at Japan Advisory, he was a colleague I could turn to about highly complex accounting and financial issues I needed to make a judgement on in order to invest in Japanese stocks profitably. I wish I were still working with him.

I have known Mike for ten years and hold him in the highest regard both professionally and personally. Mike’s extremely logic and independent thought process is, in my opinion, his biggest asset. To this day I still employ stock valuation methods that I learned from Mike many years ago and I still ask him for his investment opinion and advice.

My role as Co-head of Research wasn’t as much to manage Mike as it was more to learn from him and to integrate and leverage his talents into a team of analysts at various stages of development. Mike delivered the full package. He brought in a much-needed level of sector experience, having followed his sector through several cycles. He brought in extensive buy-side experience which came across in the confidence and accuracy of his stock calls. His experience helped our sell-side team focus on what works and what doesn’t work. In terms of his stock picks, he had an absolutely incredible run of what I believe were 8 out of 9 initiations hitting his target prices within a two- or three-month time horizon, each with high double-digit returns. He demonstrated appropriate target-price discipline and removed his ratings rather than “follow the bull”. He showed stop-loss discipline when the inevitable happened and a call went the other way. Mike made Japaninvest clients significant profits. It was a pleasure to work with him, as Mike is a gifted analyst and an extraordinary stock picker.

I worked with Mike at 4 different companies in Tokyo from the mid-1980s. He always approached his jobs at each firm with a rigorous intellectual enthusiasm and interest, which I continue to strive to imitate. He taught me much, particularly to assiduously question assumed wisdom. I still use concepts, financial ratios and other analytical tools, I initially learned from Mike over 20 years ago.