▼Mission of Susten: "Creating investment management services that can be recommended to family and friends." ▼Vision of Susten: "Realizing a sustainable society where everyone can live with peace of mind." ▼Background of Susten's Founding: The founding members, CEO Okano and CIO Yamaguchi, were managing billions of yen at a foreign financial company they joined as new graduates. As the demand for asset management grew, Okano and Yamaguchi, who were managing funds for the affluent, felt a sense of frustration when they couldn’t answer their family and friends' requests for good investment recommendations. In search of a solution to this issue, they established Susten Capital Management in July 2019 with the mission of "creating investment management services that can be recommended to family and friends." ▼Two Challenges We Aim to Address: To realize our mission and vision, we are addressing two main challenges: 【High-cost Structure of Japan’s Asset Management Services】 The asset management industry in Japan still hasn't rectified its high-cost structure rooted in face-to-face sales and intermediary margins. As Japan faces a declining population and pension issues, and with the increasing focus on asset management, there's an urgent need to reevaluate the ideal state of the asset management industry. We aim to realize this ideal, which has been deemed impossible due to various barriers in the past, by leveraging technology. 【Disconnect between Environmental/Welfare Initiatives and the Financial System】 We firmly believe that sound market principles can drive society in a better direction. However, at the same time, these principles aren't flawless and don't function seamlessly in every field. In areas where market principles are less effective, especially in fields like "environment" and "welfare," we believe that asset managers need to take the lead in creating mechanisms where investors can be continuously involved.