LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”) today announced Akira Nishimura has been appointed Head of Client Services, Japan, and will be 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 key securities client relationships and will proactively seek mandates from new distribution partners.  He will also review the possible structures that institutions can utilize to access LaSalle’s open-ended funds, and going forward, its closed-ended funds.

Nishimura joins LaSalle from Credit Suisse Securities in Japan where he was responsible for the sales of fixed income and alternative investment products to major Japanese financial institutions.  His product range included real estate funds, hedge funds and private equity funds, together with cash and synthetic CDOs, CLOs, ABS, CMBS and RMBS.  He also spent time in their London office where he was assigned to cover Japanese institutional investors in London. 

Prior to Credit Suisse, Nishimura worked for Morgan Stanley in Tokyo where he reviewed and approved all non-recourse loans to be securitized, and advised the investment banking M&A department on cash projections, capital structural and credit approval.  Prior to this, he had a number of roles at Mizuho Corporate Bank based both in the US and Tokyo.