Investment Policy

The name of our company ”Zen” derives from the concept of 1)『然』―the corporations should go back to what it should be, 2)『善』―the corporations should be moral and social , 3)『禅』― the corporations should find its own existence, 4)『全』―the corporations should carry out for all stakeholders. (The above ”Shikishi”, a special kind of Japanese card paper, is a drawing by the Old master Taido Matsubara for our company)

In the past, Max Weber , in his book「The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism」(1905), sociologically discovered that although the economic ethics of Puritanism was considered to be against the pursuit of profit, it has significantly and paradoxically contributed to the birth of modern capitalism. The wealth has been accumulated as a result of a dedication to the profession for the sake of God’s glory and neighbor love instead of profit making. Then, Puritan has spent such wealth not for their consumption but for neighbor love by donation. On the other hand, the above activity unintentionally created the backbone of the rational management of the corporation which in turn can not be existed without making profit. Thereafter, the corporation has been forced externally to make profit for its own existence and continuation, not for God’s glory and neighbor love. This backbone of capitalism which was released form the religious ethics has circulated and been amplified by its own in order to produce wealth, and reached the Industrial Revolution. However, the spirit of capitalism has been diminished and lost in the above process. Weber finally said “The sound spirit of capitalism will not come from a simple operation of monetary capital.

The concept of 『然』『善』『禅』『全』 implies the revival of “The Spirit of Capitalism” in the context of Weber. This is our company’s investment policy. We still remember clearly that the amplified self-circulation of money flow has resulted in the Lehman crisis. We are now in the era of being questioned whether the corporations are able to carry out social responsibility (CSR) in response to the rising criticism of monetary capitalism. It is quite important how the corporations carry out its social responsibility in order to avoid “The Tragedy of Commons”.

In order to solve these issues surrounding the corporations, it is indispensable to have a common understanding among their stakeholders (shareholders, creditors, employees, clients, etc.) and to pull out their cooperation. We believe that each stakeholder is socially obliged to exercise its right correctly as its own social responsibility to its own beneficiary. It is important not to make “Anti-Commons Tragedy” happen in this process.

Under these environment, our company invests and consults the corporations corresponding to our philosophy of 『然』『善』『禅』『全』 for both venture corporations and matured corporations. Productivity, Profitability and Growth potential are minimum requirements for a further corporate growth. What is the most important factor of our investment decision is a management interview. We believe that it is the management of the corporations, which internally embodies “The Spirit of Capitalism” derived from the philosophy of 『然』『善』『禅』『全』 and realizes the Environment, Social and Governance(“ESG”) requirement , without being forced externally by law and duties. On the other hand, the stakeholders including shareholders should put more emphasis on circulation that social dividends (contribution to the environment, etc.) will result in the increase of the capital dividend and employee’s profit share in the future. It is a first step that the corporations and stakeholders should take a cooperative approach to the goal of “SDGs”(Sustainable Development Goals) of both the corporations and the society.