About Us

Eric Lucas, President & Chief Executive Officer
Eric established the Spring Investment Co., Ltd (the Japan Asset Manager) in Japan in 1998 and has developed it into an institutionally recognised investment and asset management company.

Eric first lived in Japan from 1985, working at the major Japanese law firm of Anderson Mori and Rabinowitz. In 1987, Eric was hired by Babcock & Brown in the U.S. and continued living in Japan on secondment representing Babcock & Brown in its Japanese joint venture, Nomura Babcock & Brown, until 1992 where he specialised in structured finance.

After several years at Babcock & Brown's San Francisco then global head office from 1993, Eric returned to Tokyo in 1998. In July 2006, Eric was appointed Global Head of Real Estate at Babcock & Brown.

Eric holds a law degree from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Eric resigned as Managing Director of AJA on 16 April 2009 at which time he was appointed Senior Advisor to the Astro Group.

Naoto Ichiki, Chief Operating Officer
Mr Ichiki joined the Japan Asset Manager in 2006.

He was formerly a Managing Director of JPMorgan, where Mr Ichiki was head of Real Estate Structured Finance Asia, Real Estate Investment Banking Japan, and Structured Products Japan. Mr Ichiki spent 16 years at JPMorgan where he was responsible for various real estate finance/acquisition transactions, including Japan's first non-recourse loan and CMBS arrangements. Prior to joining JPMorgan, he was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company for nearly eight years. Mr Ichiki holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Hitotsubashi University and is a licensed real estate broker.

Naoto Yabu, Head of Asset Management
Mr Yabu joined the Japan Asset Manager in 2006.

Mr Yabu was formerly with ORIX Corporation in the overseas real estate division, including seven years in an asset management role in the U.S. He was also an Executive Director of ORIX Asset Management Corporation, an asset management subsidiary for ORIX JRIET, at its listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2002. Mr Yabu holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Kobe University and is a licensed real estate broker.

Shinya Sato, Senior Advisor
Mr Sato joined Spring Investment Co., Ltd (the Japan Asset Manager) in 1999. He was appointed Senior Advisor to the Japan Asset Manager on 1 January 2009, having previously been Head of Acquisitions. He holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Hokkaido.  Prior to joining the Japan Asset Manager, Mr Sato was a Managing Director of Jones Lang LaSalle K.K. in Japan, providing a wide variety of real estate services to clients in Japan and throughout the world.  Mr Sato is a licensed real estate broker and a registered real estate consultant in Japan.