TOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) - Schroders plc (L:SDR) has appointed Shigesuke Kashiwagi, former Chief Financial Officer of Nomura Holdings (T:8604), as its president and country head of Japan, the London-listed global asset manager said in a statement issued exclusively to Reuters.
Kashiwagi abruptly left Nomura in March, shortly before Japan's biggest investment bank announced a major management overhaul which was followed by the axing of its European equities research unit, resulting in hundreds of job losses in April.
Schroders is hiring Kashiwagi, who has more than three decades financial industry experience, to drive the firm's growth in Asia's largest investment market.
Based in Tokyo, he will report to Lieven Debruyne, Schroder's Asia-Pacific Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Guy Henriques, who will be returning to a role in Britain later this year, and will take up his post from July 1.
Kashiwagi had been expecting to be promoted as Nomura's Chief Operating Officer, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, however that role went to Tetsu Ozaki, the then head of its wholesale division.
His exit raised questions about whether he had clashed with Nomura's senior management over the company's future business strategy.
"The appointment of an executive with Shigesuke's unrivalled experience and financial industry knowledge highlights our continued commitment to growth in Japan, Asia's largest investment market, and a strategically important part of Schroders," Peter Harrison, Group Chief Executive at Schroders said in the statement.
Kashiwagi said in the statement he was delighted to be joining Schroders as the new Country Head of Japan.
(Reporting Emi Emoto and Sinead Cruise; Writing by Denny Thomas; Editing by Richard Pullin)