JLL strengthens capital markets capabilities in Japan

JLL Japan welcomes two senior executives to its Capital Markets team, as part of the firm’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its capital markets team globally and grow market share in Japan.

Arthur de Haast, Chairman of JLL’s Global Capital Markets Board, relocates from the U.K., while Kenichi Negishi takes over as the Head of Capital Markets, JLL Japan. Both are based in Tokyo, and will work together to achieve investment objectives for international and domestic clients.

“Given the rising interest in Japan as an investment destination for international and domestic capital, this is the ideal time to welcome Arthur and Kenichi into the fold,” says Stuart Crow, CEO of Capital Markets Asia Pacific.  "This is part of our ongoing strategy of expanding our team in Japan to provide a broader range of services, combining Arthur’s vast experience with Kenichi’s commercial property expertise, to meet a growing demand for cross-border deals," adds Mr Crow.

Mr de Haast, who has been with JLL since 1987, will continue to serve the board, where he has helped to develop and implement strategies worldwide, while assisting Japanese institutional investors to deploy capital into offshore real estate.

He says: “Tokyo is one of the largest and most liquid markets globally. There are significant growth opportunities in this market, as there’s rising demand from international clients who have already invested heavily in Japan, plus a number of institutional clients wanting to enter the domestic market. More importantly, I’m looking forward to helping our Japanese clients navigate the global real estate landscape as we expect outbound capital to hit US$40 to US$60billion over the next three years.”

Taking over as Head of JLL Japan Capital Markets, Mr Negishi is tasked with heading the local capital markets team, fostering and growing new revenue streams as well as maintaining strong relationships with global and local core clients.

“We’re confident that Kenichi’s strong understanding of industry trends and in-depth client knowledge of real estate financing options will boost our integrated advisory services, enabling us to offer our clients greater cross border connectivity,” says Mr Crow.

According to JLL’s latest research, Tokyo’s investment volumes rose from US$15.4 billion in 2017 to US$17.9 billion in 2018. Mr Crow adds: “Over the past couple of years, Japanese real estate has lured foreign investment, with the office and hotel sectors receiving the lion’s share of capital. With ongoing political uncertainty and stock market volatility around the world, Japan is increasingly seen as a safe haven, as it poses little geopolitical risk while low interest rates enable investors to capture healthy yields even when investment returns are low.”

“It’s an exciting time for real estate as institutional investors continue to increase their portfolio allocations to real estate, with more looking at debt financing opportunities as well as direct investment,” says Mr Negishi. “I am thrilled to join JLL and look forward to working closely with clients and colleagues across the region.”

Mr Negishi has more than 25 years of experience in real estate financing and private equity. He started his career at Nomura Real Estate Development in 1991. Prior to joining JLL, he was at Merrill Lynch Japan Securities, JP Morgan Securities Asia, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Japan and most recently, Deka Real Estate Lending.

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