The senior executive of the region said that Apollo will increase the human resources of Japan and Asia

By Selena Li and Kane Wu

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Apollo Global Management (NYSE: ) plans to expand in Japan and add staff to its Asian wealth business, the region’s top executive said, as global investment firms pour more resources into the region to take advantage of a growing number of deals. and assets.

The New York-based asset manager aims to add about 10 people in Japan to accelerate its expansion in the country, Matthew Michelini, Apollo’s Singapore partner and head of Asia Pacific, told Reuters.

“If I look at the regional leaders we need to hire in the next year or two, most of the ones we need will be based in Japan,” said Michelini, one of the engineers behind Apollo’s move to increase Asia’s contribution. Three years ago to the international work.

The Tokyo office currently has 20 to 25 employees, including 10 investment professionals, and the firm may expand the total to 30 in the next two years, he said.

Japan will be Apollo’s fastest-growing office in Asia over the next two years, covering private equity, institutional sales, wealth and credit, Michelini said, adding that capital allocation to the country could also rise.

Rivals including Warburg Pincus and Carlyle are also expanding their hiring in Japan.

Japan’s expansion coincides with a boom in trade over the past two years, making the country a rare bright spot during a merger and acquisition slowdown, helped by a push for better corporate governance and a weakened yen making assets cheaper.

Japan in 2010 It was the largest market for private equity deals in the Asia-Pacific region by 2023, accounting for 30% of total deal value, up from just 5% to 10% historically, according to consultancy Bain & Co.

Double wealth workers

Meanwhile, the wealth business launched two years ago has raised more than $5 billion in Asia-Pacific assets and will be one of Apollo’s regional growth engines as it plans to double its workforce over the next two years.

Michelini said the company would begin hiring in South Korea and Australia by 2025, adding teams in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, without providing workforce targets.

In December, Apollo poached Diane Poon from KKR as a principal in its wealth group in Singapore.

Apollo is one of a handful of private equity firms offered to participate in Japan’s Seven&i Holdings’ buyout of the retailer, reported in November, in what would be the world’s largest-ever management buyout.

The firm declined to comment on whether Seven and the parties are in negotiations.

Globally, the Nasdaq-listed private equity and corporate lending specialist aims to more than double its size over the next five years.

In the year Founded in 1990, Apollo is a multi-asset manager with $733 billion in assets as of the end of the third quarter of last year. It also provides investment and asset management services to retirees.