Why this seat is different in Japan
Distribution in Japan is a relationship franchise held by a known group of people. Institutional money sits with corporate pensions, the public pension fund, life insurers, regional banks and trust banks; retail money flows through securities houses and banks that select funds for their platforms. The people with standing in those rooms are known to every asset manager in Tokyo and most have been approached by every one. The hire is as much about which relationships move with the person as about process.
The regulatory layer is specific. Selling and soliciting require sales-representative registration (外務員登録) and the business operates under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act with the Financial Services Agency and the industry associations as supervisors. The distinction between discretionary investment management (投資運用業), investment advisory (投資助言・代理業) and distribution matters for what the person may do and say. Your compliance head will have views on the JD; involve them.
Language runs one way. Clients are Japanese institutions that work in Japanese, and the product, portfolio managers and investment committee are usually abroad and work in English. The person translates both ways, which is why the pool is small.
Purpose of the role
Grow assets under management in Japan by winning and retaining institutional mandates and wholesale platform placements, leading the distribution team, and representing the Japan client base to the global investment and product organisation.
Key responsibilities
Business development
- Build and execute the Japan distribution strategy by client segment, product and channel.
- Win new institutional mandates and platform placements, and lead pitches, due diligence and consultant relationships.
- Retain and grow existing clients through regular reporting and portfolio-manager access.
Product and market feedback
- Feed Japanese demand, pricing and vehicle requirements (投資信託, 投資一任, private funds) to global product teams.
- Coordinate fund launches and documentation with legal, compliance and operations.
Team
- Lead client-relationship managers and client-service staff, and develop the next generation of relationship holders.
Governance
- Operate within the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, association rules and firm policy, with compliance as a partner.
Interface
- Report to the Japan CEO and regional distribution leadership on pipeline, assets and risks, in English.
Candidate profile
Must have
- Ten or more years in asset management distribution in Japan with a track record of mandates or placements won, with figures.
- Established relationships in the segment the role targets: institutional, wholesale or both.
- Sales-representative registration and clean regulatory standing.
- Experience at a foreign asset manager, or at a Japanese house with global product exposure.
Preferred
- Team leadership with named successors.
- Experience with alternatives, private markets or whichever product class the firm is pushing.
- Consultant relationships where institutional mandates run through them.
Language
- Japanese at native level for clients and regulators.
- English at business level for the investment organisation, product teams and regional reporting.
Decide before you post
- Institutional, wholesale or both, and the asset target over three years.
- Whether the seat sits on the Japan management committee and holds a registered position with the regulator.
- Bonus structure: formula, discretionary, deferred.
- What products the firm will actually have available in Japan in the next 18 months. Candidates price this in.
How hard is this hire
Hard. The pool is small, well paid and regularly approached. Expect four to six months and a counter-offer at the end. Searches fail when the firm expects relationships to arrive without products the Japanese market wants, or sets a bonus structure below what a relationship holder can earn elsewhere.
Interview questions that separate candidates
- Which mandates did you win in the last three years, at what size, and which of those relationships would come with you?
- Walk me through a pitch you lost and what you changed.
- How do you work with consultants on institutional mandates in Japan?
- Tell me about a product that global wanted to push and Japan did not want. What did you do?
- What is your regulatory registration history?
