Core Cultural Values Align with CFA Institute

When Yoshiharu Okazaki was growing up in Tokyo in the 1950s, he was expected to pursue a university education. Japanese society places a high value on learning and promotes education, he says, which was also true in Okazaki's own family. Equally important to his family — and Japanese culture, for that matter — was what he chose to study.

"Back then, in Japan, working hard to produce something material was a good thing in the moral realm, but making money by just putting the money in the stock market was simply speculation and that was not considered a legitimate profession in many of the older generation's viewpoint," Okazaki explains.

Okazaki believed, however, that this deep-seated cultural perception about investing could be changed. In 1967, with only a rudimentary understanding of English, he boarded a freighter for Vancouver, Canada, and then a train to New York City. Okazaki has always felt that his cultural values and those of CFA Institute were not only compatible but complementary. Leaving Japan to study in the United States reinforced his own ideas on finance and investments.

By 1973, he had earned his BA and MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business, majoring in finance and investments. But when Okazaki returned to Japan after graduation, there were no positions available at Japanese companies to practice what he learned. "I had to figure out how I was going to use my education and knowledge here [in Japan]," Okazaki recalls. He accepted a position at an international company with a Japanese office and became the firm's first investment analyst. In 1981, with almost eight years of experience, Okazaki added the CFA designation to his credentials. He says that it was evident after just a few years in the industry that employers, regulators, officials, and Japanese finance professionals needed to be educated about the CFA Program and its benefits.

He took it upon himself to be a leader in that education process. Okazaki became the first Japanese charterholder to be nominated to the CFA Institute Board of Governors and served as chairman of the CFA Society of Japan from 2003 to 2004. Over the years, he also volunteered for the Global Investment Research Challenge, which offers university teams a chance to compete in regional and national report writing and presentation events.

After a 35-year career in investment management, Okazaki notes that there is still a lot of work to be done. He now has the time to get more actively involved in mentoring young Japanese investment professionals, who face some of the same issues he once struggled with as a young student.

"The young people hear parents and teachers saying, 'Oh, investing money in the stock market is very speculative — like gambling — and you shouldn't do it,'" he says.

"Market capitalism has not developed as it should have here," he adds. "It still holds true that if you work with your hands and create a product, it is honorable. If you work with just money and making money, it's not considered an honorable or a decent living." But Okazaki's entire career is a testament to the fact that young professionals don't have to stray from core cultural values to work in finance if they understand the CFA Program and international best practices. "I was able to create a career without sacrificing my cultural or professional values," Okazaki says, "so this is possible for others too."

And this is where Okazaki thinks CFA Institute can play a crucial role: "By educating the youth, regulators, and officials as well about the CFA Program and the strict standards of ethics and codes of conduct, I can show them that the finance profession is a good and honorable career choice," he explains.

In particular, he wants to show them that alignment of Japanese values and CFA Institute values isn't just possible but is critical if they want to compete in the finance world in the future.

"One of the big megatrends affecting Japan is globalization, not only of the financial industry but of all industry," he says. Okazaki knows that making this trend a reality in Japan requires ethics, communication skills, creative practitioners, and an understanding of different values and cultures.

"What we need are younger people who are able to work in that environment and be successful, particularly in the financial area. So, I try very hard to promote that idea among the Japanese who are [CFA Program] candidates." The CFA Program provides a foundation and framework of thought for this transition to occur, Okazaki says.

"I know that to participate in a global movement, you have to expand your scope of thought and your ideas — the very ways that you think about business — and that is what the CFA Program offers."

Spreading the word about CFA Institute and the CFA designation is now part of Okazaki's official retirement plans. "It's finally time to give back to the industry for all I have gained from it and to watch closely as our up-and-coming Japanese investment professionals use the CFA Program to better themselves in this global marketplace."

Interview conducted in March 2010.

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