Fractional Expert Singapore

Toyouki (Toyo)- Fractional CFO & Corporate Finance Trainer

At Maestro, we know there’s more to life than work. In fact, it’s the experiences, relationships and pursuits we have outside of work that can often give us an edge in what we do each day. We host an interview series called “Meet the Maestro” where we interview our Maestros and get an insight to who they really are and what makes them tick - beyond the CV.

Toyoyuki brings over two decades of senior finance leadership across real estate investment and fund management in Japan and Singapore, with deep expertise spanning FP&A, financial risk, treasury and portfolio performance at institutional scale. Most recently, he held SVP roles at Mapletree Investments and GLP Capital Partners, overseeing multi-billion-dollar portfolios and regularly engaging at Audit, Risk and Board level.

Today, he works across three interconnected worlds: as a fractional CFO supporting startups and SMEs through growth and fundraising, as a corporate finance educator delivering training through his own platform and leading institutions, and as an active early-stage investor across startups and VC funds.

What sets Toyoyuki apart is his ability to operate across the full capital lifecycle, from advising early-stage founders on financial foundations through to managing complex institutional portfolios. This gives him a rare, end-to-end perspective on how businesses are built, funded and scaled across borders.

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1. Tell us about a career highlight to date...

I have spent most of my career, over 20 years, in the real estate industry, where I've held various roles across leasing management, asset management, FP&A, treasury, and accounting.

After obtaining my CPA qualification in Washington State, USA, I joined GLP, a fund management and real estate development company with US$125 billion in AUM. There, my focus shifted to FP&A and other finance leadership roles. From 2018 to 2023, I served as Global Head of Business Planning (FP&A) at the Singapore HQ, leading the company's entire financial planning and strategic planning processes while working with internal and external stakeholders globally.

I subsequently served as SVP, Group FP&A and Financial Risk Management at Mapletree Investments' Singapore HQ, supporting three listed REITs and the main entity across an S$80 billion AUM business.

Today, I serve as CFO for two startups and one SME group, establishing their financial management processes and raising equity and debt to fuel their growth.

Completed Global Executive MBA in INSEAD in 2023 December.

2. Talk us through an unusual career choice you have made along the way...

I didn't start my career immediately after graduating from college in Japan, as I wanted to be a professional musician. After giving up that dream a year later, I moved to Dublin, Ireland to study English. When I returned to Japan, finding work wasn't easy. Even though I had reached a decent level of English, I lacked real work experience. Fortunately, I landed a job in the real estate industry, only to lose it a few years later during the 2008 financial crisis. Determined not to find myself in the same situation again, I studied hard for the US CPA and several other qualifications. After joining a Singapore-headquartered company, I was able to step up to a senior executive level within five years. My career hasn't been linear, and there have been many setbacks along the way. But continuously learning new skills and knowledge is what has carried me through every challenge.

3. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Same I shared above (the question 3), I was dreaming to be a professional musician. 

4. What are your passions outside of work and how do you make time for them?

Learning new things is always fun for me. It never feels like something I'm forced to do. I don't really draw a line between work and life; I simply enjoy them as one.

5. If you could instantly master any skill or hobby, what would it be and why?

As mentioned earlier, I once wanted to be a musician. I still want to maintain and improve my singing, guitar, and ukulele skills. They keep me connected to my original identity and remind me of where I started as a young man.

6. What is a personal value or belief that guides the way you live your life?‍

Life has many different stages and challenges: setbacks, happy moments, moments of extraordinary luck. What ties them all together is the effort to keep learning new skills and knowledge.

7. What is a challenge you have overcome outside of work that shaped you?

Living outside the country where I grew up has been a real challenge in many ways. But experiencing the cultural gaps between Japan, Singapore, and other countries has been a great opportunity to prepare myself to thrive in a truly global environment.

8. What do you think your job will look like in 10 years time? 

I now see myself in the second stage of my career. My focus is no longer on chasing higher compensation or climbing the corporate ladder. Instead, I evaluate my work by how much I can contribute back to society.

That said, "contributing to society" can sound too big and too vague to act on. So practically, I aim to do work that the people around me genuinely appreciate. That, for me, is the simplest indicator of whether I'm doing the right things.

9. If you could travel anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go and what would you do?

It's not so much about a particular place I want to travel to. For me, meeting new people and finding ways to support them is simply what I find interesting.

10. What does success look like to you?

I may be repeating myself, but for me, success is doing work that the people around me genuinely appreciate. That is the simplest indicator of whether I'm doing the right things, and it's what success will look like for the rest of my working life.

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