Masato Yamabe has served as deputy general manager for FPG's maritime JOLCO business since July 2018. In this position, he leads a team of underwriting and business development professionals in building new client relationships and arranging JOLCO equities for various maritime assets. During the five years of his term, FPG’s maritime JOLCO business expanded dramatically, i.e., the aggregate value of the annual JOLCO purchase price has increased by approx. 95% from JPY 166 billion in the FPG’s financial year ended in Sep. 2018 to JPY 323 billion in the financial year ended in Sep. 2023.   

Prior to joining FPG, Yamabe spent 17 years at Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (“R&I”), a Japan-based credit rating agency, where he initially served as a chief analyst covering U.S. & European financial institutions as well as some U.S. corporates & LATAM sovereigns, and later, as a general manager for overall international affairs including client relationships, coordination with other Asian rating agencies and conducts in regulatory affairs.

He started his professional carrier in 1990 as a business analyst at Sanwa Bank (currently, MUFG Bank), where he later served as a credit analyst, a structured finance manager, and a financial restructuring specialist.

He holds a BSc in Political Science and Economics from Waseda University.