Toshi Kirino joins Rogers in Tokyo

Toshi Kirino has joined Rogers Investment Advisors in Tokyo. His job is a newly created role of head of new product development.

Kirino joins from Gartmore Investment Japan Limited where he managed institutional investor and distributor relationships and where he has spent the last decade. Before then he was with Nippon Credit Bank where he latterly worked as a proprietary trader.

At Rogers Investment Advisors he will report directly to Ed Rogers, and for the time being is going solo in the firm's marketing and new product team. The intention, according to Ed Rogers, is that he will be able to reach Japanese investors given his track record with Japanese client relationships.

Rogers Investment Advisors is the advisor to the Wolver Hill Japan fund, which managed a 6% positive return in 2008. This fund of hedge funds is up 12.5% since its establishment in 2006 compared to a negative 44.5% return for the Topix index.