Van Biema Value Partners LLC, a New York-based fund of hedge funds with $600 million, is looking to increase allocations to Japan because it is a haven from the Greek crisis and China's share-market rout.
Japan "is not without its own set of problems, but relative to the rest of the world, it is an island of sanity," said founder Michael van Biema, a former Columbia Business School professor.
Companies here offer limited downside because they tend to have more cash and lower debt on their balance sheets, Van Biema said in an interview in Tokyo on July 8. The fund of hedge funds, which has invested about $50 million to $75 million in Japan, is looking to boost its investment in the country by 2 percent to 5 percent of the total global portfolios, he said.