Blue Owl Capital has further expanded its presence among Japanese institutional investors with the appointment of former Barclays executive Takeo Ikemori as managing director.

Ikemori has been appointed managing director, representative in Japan and head of Japan institutional capital, with responsibility for strengthening relationships with financial institutions in the country.

He will jointly lead the alternative asset manager’s operations in Japan alongside Yoichi Nakamura, managing director, representative in Japan and head of Japan private wealth. Ikemori and Nakamura will jointly oversee Blue Owl’s Tokyo office.

“Japan’s institutional market is one of the most significant in the world and is built on trust and the ability to deliver tailored solutions,” said Michael Dale, managing director and head of institutional capital, Asia, at Blue Owl, to whom Ikemori will report.

“With Takeo’s nearly three decades of experience building relationships across Japan’s institutions, combined with the breadth of Blue Owl’s $319bn (£237bn) platform, we look forward to what Takeo and the team can accomplish on behalf of our clients in Japan,” he added.

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Ikemori joins Blue Owl from Natixis Japan Securities, where he served as managing director and head of FIG coverage. Before that, he spent 16 years at Barclays, holding senior leadership roles including managing director, head of rates sales Japan, and co-head of cross-asset solutions sales Japan.

The move by Blue Owl comes as private credit firms, encouraged by a combination of macroeconomic factors and changing investor attitudes to alternative credit, are expanding their presence in Japan.

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