Koji Ueda joined SMBC Aero Engine Lease in April 2025 as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer. He oversees SAEL’s corporate and administrative functions, including strategic planning, funding, accounting and tax, human resources, compliance, and investor relations.
He began his career in the leasing industry in 1998 at NTT Finance Corporation in Hokkaido, Japan, where he worked in a corporate marketing group responsible for general and communication equipment leasing. In 2003, he relocated to New York to participate in a trainee program with Mizuho Corporate Bank, a division of Leasing which originated U.S. tax leases and synthetic leases for American subsidiaries of Japanese clients.
In 2008, he joined Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. After serving in Tokyo for three years, he was seconded to SMBC Leasing and Finance Ltd. in New York in 2011. Over the course of 13 years in New York and Chicago, he led origination efforts in asset finance, aircraft finance, and leasing solutions. He also contributed to the acquisition projects of SMBC Aviation Capital in 2012, SMBC Rail Services in 2013, and subsequent railcar portfolio expansion in 2017.
In 2024, he returned to Tokyo and was assigned to the Aviation Business Development Dept. at Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company, where he led planning and oversight of SAEL for one year.
Koji holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from Meiji University in Tokyo.