PIMCO, the California-based fixed-income fund manager owned by Alliianz of Germany, has appointed former Daiwa and Goldman luminary Makoto Takano President of PIMCO Japan. The appointment reflects how fast PIMCO is now growing in Japan, where its assets under management have grown by four fifths in the last year.
Takano, who joined PIMCO in October 2001 as an Executive Vice President, assumes responsibility for the company’s Japanese operations from today. “We intend to further expand our business in Japan, by providing the best service and products to this nation’s institutional investors, pension managers and retail consumers,” says Takano. “Going forward, we will further strengthen our organizational, product development and customer-service capabilities.”
PIMCO says it has long considered Japan one of its most important markets. William S. Thompson, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, noted that PIMCO is currently managing about $6 billion in Japanese assets (the company’s overall Asian assets under management total approximately $11 billion.) And he points out that the company will begin actively trading bonds at its Tokyo office later this year.
“PIMCO’s Tokyo office expansion is part of a worldwide drive to expand our fixed-income management capabilities,” says Thompson. “The company continues to broaden its investment platform to many areas around the world, and managing Yen-based assets allows us to gain greater presence in and understanding of Japanese markets.”
The PIMCO Total Return Fund, the company’s flagship fund, was introduced in Japan four years ago, becoming the first U.S. mutual fund sold here. The fund, sold in Japan through Nikko Securities, now has $1.4 billion in Japanese assets under management. PIMCO, in partnership with Merrill Lynch, also launched a mutual fund for Japanese investors last October.
Prior to joining PIMCO, Mr. Takano was temporarily transferred to Daiwa Institute of Research immediately after joining Daiwa Securities Co. in April 1987. In his professional career since then, he has consistently been involved in investment-research operations. He had been engaged in developing asset-management models with Nobel Economics Prize Winner Harry Marcovitz in the United States during a two-year assignment from 1990 in Daiwa Securities Trust USA. Returning to Japan in 1992, he became a member of Daiwa’s stock strategist team and was promoted to the team head in October 1996. Joining Goldman Sachs Asset Management in October 1997, he was first appointed to sales director overseeing the investment-consulting division before assuming additional responsibility as operating officer and chief of planning and research in November 1999.