Invesco launches alternative investment division

Invesco has established an alternative investment product division to complement its existing four geographic units (Asia-Pacific, Britain, Europe, North America), and has hired Carlos Higuchi from Nomura Securities in Tokyo to run it in this region, plus the Middle East.

Higuchi, who had been a member of Nomura's fixed income sales department, is now managing director of alternative investment product marketing. He reports both to Andrew Lo, regional CEO in Hong Kong, and to Alexander Proust, the recently appointed Japan CEO. Proust joined in May from Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, and together with Higuchi's appointment, establishes a new executive team at Invesco's Japan operation.

The firm is in the process of integrating its private capital business, which is run out of New York, with its real estate business, managed out of Dallas. In addition to those two mainstays, Invesco also handles a range of other alternative products, including collateralized debt obligations and two hedge funds, a US equities market-neutral strategy and a US macro fund.

Higuchi says the firm will be both marketing its US and international expertise to Asian institutional and high-net worth clients, as well as creating product either situated in this region or with an Asia-Pacific investment focus.