Ken Okamura recently completed his DPhil in Management Studies at the Said Business School. His doctoral research focused on the Japanese financial crisis of 1997-2003, specifically looking at bank-firm relationships and bankruptcies.

At the Centre he is working on the value of bank-firm relationships when a bank borrower fails, with consequent reputational losses to other borrowers from the same bank and comparative work on the nature of bank-firm relationships in Japan and other developed countries, with a special emphasis on whether Japanese banks are more motivated by fears of reputational penalties when their borrowers enter financial distress.

Prior to his doctorate he worked for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein as the Chief Strategist for Japanese equities. He also worked in private equity for Dresdner Kleinwort Capital and as a fund manager for Baring Asset Management.

Ken also has an LLB from the University of Exeter and a MA in International Business from Sophia University and an MSc in Management Research from Oxford University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.