On August 28, 2026, Yuya Shimizu, CIO of Hibiki Path Advisors SPC (“we,” “us,” or “Hibiki”), had the pleasure of joining a panel discussion with Mr. Hiroyuki Sameshima of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Mr. Naotaka Ikeda of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), at a seminar hosted by Deloitte Tohmatsu Equity Advisory (DTEA), titled “A Turning Point for Listed Companies: Choosing a Future That Earns the Confidence of Capital Markets.”
【Read Deloitte Tohmatsu’s article here】(only in Japanese)
During the discussion, CIO Shimizu introduced a concept we have coined the “Iron Triangle” — the idea that (1) ROE, (2) the dividend payout ratio, and (3) the (free cash flow) growth rate are fundamentally interconnected and should be considered together. As touched on in the article, the point is simple but important: these are not three separate management targets to pick and choose from. They are linked by an underlying mathematical relationship, meaning that a decision on one inevitably shapes what is possible for the others. This is an important concept that we believe deserves a closer look, and we hope to explore it further in a separate post.
To us, this idea also ties directly into the themes we have long been exploring through our “Capitalism Trilogy” — the fundamental nature of capital markets and what it truly means for a company to be publicly listed.
The seminar was a valuable opportunity for us to revisit these fundamental questions from three different perspectives — those of policymakers, the stock exchange, and investors.
The opinions, views, and analyses expressed in this post by Yuya Shimizu (the “Speaker”) are solely his personal views and do not represent the official views, policies, or investment decisions of any asset management company, investment fund, or other organization with which the Speaker is affiliated or otherwise associated.
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