Buffett Spurs Sparx CEO to Seek $2 Billion for Activist Fund (1)

When veteran money manager Shuhei Abe met with Warren Buffett in Tokyo earlier this year, they exchanged similar thoughts about value investing in Japan.

Now the founder of Sparx Group Co. is seeking to put his ideas into action with a so-called engagement fund to invest in well-run but undervalued Japanese businesses. He’s seeking to attract about $1 billion from global institutional investors over the next three months, and $2 billion by 2024, for the Sparx Owners’ Commitment Fund.

Shuhei Abe

Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg

After more than three decades investing in Japan, “now, I am more sophisticated,” Abe, 69, said in an interview. “I ...