After 27 Years of Ignoring ROE, a Japanese Investor Converts

After almost three decades of investing in Japanese stocks without pushing companies for higher returns, Naoki Fujiwara says it’s finally time to change.

The Tokyo-based fund manager, who oversees about $6 billion for Shinkin Asset Management Co., now brings up return on equity whenever he meets executives. Failure to do so might lose his fund investors. While financial buzzwords come and go in Japan, Fujiwara says this one is no fad, and he’s planning to broach the topic with more executives this week as the nation’s shareholder meetings peak.