Lehman snags fixed income ace

Lehman Brothers hopes to continue making inroads in the Japanese fixed income business by bringing Takashi Abiko to the firm in a newly created role. He will hold the title of managing director and head of financial institution sales, Japan and will report to Tetsu Serizawa, co-head of fixed income sales, Asia.

Abiko's responsibilities will include providing yen and non-yen fixed income products to Japanese financial institutions globally, as well as distributing yen-dominated interest rate products such as government bonds and derivatives to an international investor base.

Abiko comes to Lehman after 20 years at Nomura Securities, where he was involved with yen and non-yen fixed income product sales. This culminated in the position of global sales manager in the global fixed income division.

The hire is the second major boost to Lehman's fixed income capabilities in Japan this year. Katsuya Miyoshi joined the investment bank earlier in 2004 as head of Japanese government bond trading.