Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

HK Type 4 license through Ballingal Investment Advisors Ltd. ("BIA" or "BIAL")

BACKGROUND
I have 20+yrs experience in Asia doing alternative strategies (i.e. non-delta1 non long-only) in fixed income, equity derivatives, and activist/catalyst/event-driven and long-short equity strategies with most of that time spent managing money. 

4 years in fixed income macro, 8 years running internal hedge fund and 4yrs investment banking at Citi in Japan, 3 years running an Asia multi-strat portfolio at a hedge fund, 4+yrs as an independent special situations analyst.

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

StubWorld: Toyota Industries Unjustified Outperformance Vs. Toyota Motors

GMO Internet 3Q Results: Revenue and OP Beat Consensus

Quiddity Advisors

Equity Bottom-Up

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/david-blennerhassett" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:840" rel="noopener">David Blennerhassett</a> has written about <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gmo-internet-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13631:1" rel="noopener">GMO Internet (9449 JP)</a> over the years as an interesting holdco and most recently wrote about the situation as both a holdco and corporate governance situation in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/gmo-internet-listed-holdings-preferred" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:29641" rel="noopener">GMO Internet: Listed Holdings Preferred</a>. Others including <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/campbell-gunn" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:2531" rel="noopener">Campbell Gunn</a> have written about it <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gmo-internet-inc/insights?item=27803" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
The stock has been the subject of activist interest in the past few years, and as such it has enjoyed a fair bit of press as well, though not always laudatory.
<h2>The NEW News Yesterday</h2>
The NEW News yesterday was that the company reported full-year earnings, with consolidated revenues climbing 5.9% to ¥196.2bn, OP climbing 16.0% to ¥25.3bn, and Net Income up sharply from last year's net loss to +¥8.3bn. 
The company also announced a downward-facing dividend (i.e. a slight cut in the Q4 dividend for 2019 vs 2018), and most importantly, a <a href="https://ir.gmo.jp/en/pdf/irlibrary/gmo_disclose_info20200212_3_e.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stock buyback</a>. 
It's a big one.
The company announced a buyback of up to ¥15bn or up to 9 million shares (7.95% of shares outstanding). This is an advancement on the company's Total Shareholder Returns Policy instituted in 2016, which stated that the company aimed to return 50% of parent profits to shareholders, with a dividend payout of 33% of total parent earnings, and the rest paid back in the form of share buybacks (but with flexible timing).
Given the share price of recent, assuming no change, it would be a buyback of only 6.9mm shares, which is 6.1% of shares outstanding, but it's a start.

David Blennerhassett has written about GMO Internet (9449 JP) over the years as an interesting holdco and most recently wrote about the situation as both a holdco and corporate governance situation in GMO Internet: Listed Holdings Preferred. Others including Campbell Gunn have written about it here.
The stock has been the subject of activist interest in the past few years, and as such it has enjoyed a fair bit of press as well, though not always laudatory.
The NEW News Yesterday
The NEW News yesterday was that the company reported full-year earnings, with consolidated revenues climbing 5.9% to ¥196.2bn, OP climbing 16.0% to ¥25.3bn, and Net Income up sharply from last year's net loss to +¥8.3bn. 
The company also announced a downward-facing dividend (i.e. a slight cut in the Q4 dividend for 2019 vs 2018), and most importantly, a stock buyback. 
It's a big one.
The company announced a buyback of up to ¥15bn or up to 9 million shares (7.95% of shares outstanding). This is an advancement on the company's Total Shareholder Returns Policy instituted in 2016, which stated that the company aimed to return 50% of parent profits to shareholders, with a dividend payout of 33% of total parent earnings, and the rest paid back in the form of share buybacks (but with flexible timing).
Given the share price of recent, assuming no change, it would be a buyback of only 6.9mm shares, which is 6.1% of shares outstanding, but it's a start. 

GMOインターネット（9449）の自社株買い - 見た目より大きく、見た目より小さい

GMO Internet Group

GMOインターネット（9449）の自社株買い - 見た目より大きく、見た目より小さい