(Bloomberg) The Japanese region hit by the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl has a new backer.\u201cI\u2019m now the biggest institutional investor in Fukushima,\u201d says Curtis Freeze, New Yorker, hedge fund head and former missionary. The 53-year-old, who oversees $352 million as chief investment officer of Prospect Asset Management Inc., has taken big stakes in two of the prefecture\u2019s three banks, diverting much of his fund\u2019s assets into the bets. His goal is to get the lenders to do more to revive the battered economy — including by investing in solar.<\/p>\n
Freeze, it turns out, has history with Fukushima. Some 34 years ago he lived there, spending his days riding a bicycle around its streets trying to spread the Mormon faith. That began a love affair with Japan that saw him start his own hedge fund, help pioneer real estate investment trusts and rescue an ailing developer. Now he\u2019s seeking to make Fukushima\u2019s lenders more profitable and deliver a return to his investors.<\/p>\n