LaSalle makes Japan hire

LaSalle Investment Management has appointed Akira Nishimura head of client services Japan, based in the Tokyo office.

Nishimura, who will report to Mike Smith, director of client services Asia, will be responsible for the development of LaSalle’s securities client relationships and will look for mandates from new distribution partners. He will also review possible structures that institutions can use to access LaSalle’s open-ended real estate funds, and later, its closed-ended funds, said the firm.

Nishimura joins US-based LaSalle from Credit Suisse Securities in Japan where he was responsible for the sales of fixed income and alternative investment products to Japanese financial institutions. His job involved real estate funds, as well as hedge funds and private equity vehicles. Prior to Credit Suisse, he worked for Morgan Stanley in Tokyo where he approved non-recourse loans to be securitized.

In August, LaSalle raised a $3 billion (€2 billion) property fund targeting Asia. It will use leverage to increase the vehicle’s spending power to as much as $12 billion, focused primarily on China, Japan and Korea. LaSalle was unavailable for comment.