Key Takeaways
- • HOKU's Dan Maguire presented a long Japanese small-cap thesis at Sohn Tokyo 2026, arguing the stock trades at its cheapest valuation in a decade with roughly 50% upside.
- • The company is a Japanese mini conglomerate with two businesses: niche materials for repairing aging roads, rivers and tunnels, and forged wheels for Formula One cars and the Porsche 911 (including makers of Ferrari wheels per the headline).
- • Maguire argues both businesses have multi-year tailwinds ahead.
- • Maguire brings 26 years of non-US small and mid-cap investing experience, including 20 years at Wellington Management as lead portfolio manager on its International Smaller Companies and Japan Smaller Companies approaches.
- • The thesis is presented in the context of his July 2025 launch of Aya at HOKU, a concentrated, long-only Japan small and mid-cap absolute-return strategy.
Summary
Dan Maguire of HOKU closed the Next Wave session at Sohn Tokyo 2026 with a presentation on a Japanese mini conglomerate whose products are widely used but rarely attributed. According to the presentation summary published by Hedge Fund Alpha, one segment supplies niche materials used to repair Japan's aging road, river and tunnel infrastructure, while the other manufactures forged wheels for Formula One cars and the Porsche 911. The headline references the company's supply to Ferrari.
Maguire argued that both businesses have years of structural tailwinds ahead, and that the shares currently trade at their lowest valuation in a decade. The headline frames his conclusion as roughly 50% upside. The full article is behind a login wall, so the underlying valuation metrics and detailed assumptions behind the upside estimate are not available in the source text.
Maguire has spent 26 years investing in small and mid-cap stocks outside the United States, the last 20 at Wellington Management Company, where he was a partner and lead portfolio manager for its International Smaller Companies and Japan Smaller Companies approaches. He studied commerce at Hitotsubishi University in Tokyo, has lived and worked in Japan for more than 20 years, and launched Aya at HOKU in July 2025, a concentrated, long-only Japan small and mid-cap strategy aiming for absolute returns.
The presentation is part of a broader theme of Japanese small-cap value, which the publisher has covered through related interviews on succession opportunities among Japanese small caps.
Maguire argued that both businesses have years of structural tailwinds ahead, and that the shares currently trade at their lowest valuation in a decade. The headline frames his conclusion as roughly 50% upside. The full article is behind a login wall, so the underlying valuation metrics and detailed assumptions behind the upside estimate are not available in the source text.
Maguire has spent 26 years investing in small and mid-cap stocks outside the United States, the last 20 at Wellington Management Company, where he was a partner and lead portfolio manager for its International Smaller Companies and Japan Smaller Companies approaches. He studied commerce at Hitotsubishi University in Tokyo, has lived and worked in Japan for more than 20 years, and launched Aya at HOKU in July 2025, a concentrated, long-only Japan small and mid-cap strategy aiming for absolute returns.
The presentation is part of a broader theme of Japanese small-cap value, which the publisher has covered through related interviews on succession opportunities among Japanese small caps.
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