The asset management house has made a top-level appointment in a bid to accelerate global promotion of its offerings.

Japan-headquartered Nikko Asset Management has promoted Peter Lynn to a newly created global role that will see him head product promotions in Singapore.

Lynn was formerly managing director of Nikko Asset Management New Zealand.

His new role is part of a strategic initiative, headed out of Tokyo, that has been set up to ensure Nikko Asset Management's products and solutions effectively reach the company’s global client base, it said in a statement yesterday.

The firm has an increasing focus on making itself an Asian-based asset management powerhouse with appeal to clients in regions such as Western Europe, the Americas, as well as its home market.

“Peter Lynn’s wealth of industry knowledge will be instrumental to meet the requirements of investors around the world,” Stefanie Drews, global head of marketing, product management and development and head of the marketing, product management and development division, said.

Lynn joined the firm in 2000. He is an actuary with 23 years of experience in investment consulting, capital market research, portfolio strategy development, performance measurement and client servicing. As well as his recent managing director post, previous roles with the company in New Zealand have included head of strategy, head of quantitative analysis and head of client services.

The New Zealand subsidiary’s total assets under management increased to over NZ$4.6 billion ($2.9 billion) as of September 2015, up $700 million since December 2014.

Lynn’s position as MD of Nikko Asset Management New Zealand will be filled by George Carter, effective 9 November. Carter has 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, previously as head of distribution and a director at AMP Capital, a role he held for six years with responsibility for proactively engaging with and managing the business’s external relationships. Prior to that, he worked as a consulting actuary, providing investment and superannuation advice to institutional clients in the UK and New Zealand.

Across the whole of Nikko Asset Management, the firm has $161.3 billion of client assets.