Hamilton Lane reorganises Asia team

Global fund of funds Hamilton Lane has made a series of changes to its Asia Pacific team following the departure of managing director and head of its Hong Kong office Josh Kahn.

The firm has hired Masayoshi Yazawa as a senior advisor in Japan, Yazawa joining from his position as head of foreign securities sales at Itau Asia Securities, according to a statement.

Also in Japan, the firm has promoted Tomoko Kitao to director after two years at the firm, having served in various management roles at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ’s international credit and structured finance divisions prior to joining Hamilton Lane.

Hamilton Lane has also made three promotions in its Hong Kong office. Josh Jacob, who has been working in Asia since 2008 and at the firm for nine years, has been promoted to principal and will oversee the client services team in Hong Kong.

Brenda Lau has been promoted to the role of vice president, responsible for client relations across Asia, excluding Japan, and Collwyn Tan has been promoted to senior associate on the co-investment team.

Steve An has also joined the business development team in Hong Kong, joining from Neuberger Berman Asset Management in Korea, where he played an active role in business development and client services for institutional investors.

The series of hires and promotions come just months after Kahn, who was sent over from the US in 2008 to set up the firm’s Hong Kong office, left the firm, Private Equity International revealed earlier.

Kahn was widely acknowledged as one of the firm's leading forces in its Asia investment team, but his departure was a result of Hamilton Lane's recent commitment to localising its Asia team

“Josh was the one that was parachuted from the US to lead the Asia portion of their story, before [head of Asia] Juan [Delgado-Moreira] came over,” one industry source told PEI at the time.

“In a way, Josh’s departure is quite unexpected. [But they feel] they need to localise and find the right people to grow.”

“We continue to build on our already strong market presence in Asia, ensuring that as this market experiences further growth, Hamilton Lane will be well positioned with a leading local presence that enables us to deliver truly customised solutions for our clients,” Mario Giannini, chief executive officer of Hamilton Lane, said in a statement.

The firm now has 17 people in Asia, having also hired Mingchen Xia as a principal from Tokio Marine Asset Management and Yen Li in its business development team in January. 

“Building on the momentum generated in 2013, we are continuing to focus on strategically growing and strengthening our presence in key regional markets such as Hong Kong and Tokyo,” Juan Delgado-Moreira, Hong Kong-based managing director and head of international at Hamilton Lane, added.

“Interest in alternative investments continues to build among Asian investors, and the further development of our local teams demonstrates our commitment to providing clients with access to best in class resources to fully realize the opportunities emerging in the region.”