The current holder of the leadership post is returning to Tokyo.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Americas, the US arm of Japan’s SuMi TRUST, has appointed Yusuke Karube as its new president and CEO. He will be taking over from Shigeki Katoh, who is returning to Tokyo. 

The firm said that the appointment is a milestone for the new CEO, who was part of the team that established SMTAMA in 2020 where he worked alongside Katoh. Karube has spent 17 years of his 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry at SuMi TRUST.

“We’re exceptionally pleased to appoint Yusuke director and head of SMTAMA, amid a period of high US institutional investor interest in Japanese investment opportunities,” Yoshio Hishida, CEO of SuMi TRUST said. 

“Despite a period of volatility, Japanese stocks recently touched record highs for the first time in 34 years. This is providing significant opportunities for SuMi TRUST as global investors seek out investments set to benefit from an uptick in growth and corporate governance reforms for listed companies,” Hishida said.

The business is bringing Japanese equity products to North American institutional investors – a proposition that has become easier in recent years as Japan’s equity markets have improved.

SuMi TRUST was formed by the merger of two of Japan's largest financial institutions, Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings and Sumitomo Trust & Banking Ltd, both of which have origins dating back to the 1920s.