Nikko Asset Management will swap chairman and chief executive Tim McCarthy for the company's head of international and institutional business, Charles Beazley (pictured), next month.
McCarthy is believed to be returning to his native San Francisco while Beazley is expected to continue several reforms instituted under his predecessor's eight-year tenure at the top. McCarthy is credited with taking the group from its former role as a Japanese insurer's funds unit to independent asset manager, operating out of seven countries in Asia.
Beazley oversees Nikko AM's ex-Japan business and institutional deals and has been with the company since 2006. He was previously Gartmore's head of global institutional and alternative investments in London.
The company still has two live products out of 33 issued in the Japanese retail market, according to the SRP database.
In comparison with other structured product providers within the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nikko AM represents a fraction of some 194 live products. Its former parent company Nikko Cordial Securities has 64 live products, followed by SMBC Nikko Securities with 64, Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management with 17, SMBC Friend Securities with 11, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking with four and Sumitomo Life Insurance with a single live product.
Nikko AM recently purchased Australia's Tyndall and DBS Asset Management in a share swap, while engaging in joint ventures with India's Ambit Holdings. Additionally, Nikko AM holds a 40% stake in China's Rongtong Fund Management, and a 30% stake in HwangDBS Investment Management.
The region's biggest asset manager, Nikko AM aborted a planned IPO last year citing poor market conditions brought on by the eurozone crisis.