Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. (Nikko AM) today announces the appointment of Charles Beazley as President of Nikko Asset Management Europe, effective as of November 15, 2006. Charles' considerable investment management experience and his knowledge of Asian markets will be invaluable in the building of Nikko AM's European operations. Based at Nikko AM's European headquarters in London, Charles will report to Nikko AM CIO/President, Bill Wilder and Chairman and CEO, Timothy McCarthy based in Tokyo.

Having occupied a leadership role in winning institutional acceptance for alternative and specialist management, Charles is well known within the industry for his expertise in this field. Prior to joining Nikko Charles was a Board Director of Gartmore PLC London, Head of Global Institutional and Alternative Investments and Chairman of Gartmore Japan. His experience includes 13 years at Merrill Lynch, in both capital markets and asset management, where he was a Managing Director.

Nikko AM Chairman and CEO Timothy McCarthy said,

"Charles' appointment is excellent news for Nikko AM. The knowledge he brings from over 23 years of asset management and capital markets experience along with his outstanding track record in alternative investment will significantly strengthen our position in Europe and the Middle East. The appointment is further evidence of our focus to build our business in these regions."

Charles Beazley added,

"This position within Nikko AM's European operations offers a really tremendous opportunity. I believe that this will be the decade of Asia. With Nikko AM's high quality people, institutional history, and powerful local presence throughout the region, the company occupies a leading and enviable position to meet the needs of clients investing in the Asian region."

Nikko AM also announces that it is to significantly build and develop its European research and investment capabilities in Europe, a task that will be driven by Stuart Kinnersley, Nikko AM's Chief Investment Officer for Europe. Stuart's experience in overseeing the management of the European region's assets, including Global Equities, Japanese Equities, Global Fixed Income and Non-Yen MMFs, is seen as essential to the success of this development.

Notes to editors:

About Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. and "Nikko AM"

Nikko AM is a leading asset management group headquartered in Japan. Established over 45 years ago, Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. ("Nikko AM Tokyo") has been offering investors a full array of investment management products and advisory services. Its investment trusts are distributed through a network of approximately 200 partner securities companies and banks. The firm offers investors access to both Nikko AM's funds that invest mainly in Japanese equities, fixed income, and REITs and, through its third-party sub- advisory platform, "World Series" access to a global range of top-performing, independent asset managers over a diverse range of asset classes.

Nikko AM International Inc., our overseas office located in New York, provides a wide range of products lineup, under In-house management such as Global bond, and sub-advisory management, capitalizing on the excellent performance of external asset management firms.

In February 2005, Nikko AM's expertise in asset management was recognized when Nikko AM Tokyo received the Lipper Award for Best Fund Group, based on its outstanding performance in three asset class categories: equity funds, fixed income funds and mixed asset funds. In April 2006, Nikko AM won Asian Investor's 2006 Achievement Award in Japan Equity in the five year risk- adjusted performance category.

Additionally, Nikko Alternative Asset Management, Inc. ("NAAM"), a Nikko AM company, provides alternative investments expertise and solutions to investors. NAAM provides investors access to internally developed products, as well as to external, individual hedge funds and fund of hedge funds, through its "AlphaPlus" line of products. NAAM's alternative investments experience spans over a decade.

Nikko AM has assets totaling 10.694 trillion yen ($90.7 billion) under management, as of Sep 30, 2006.* It offers approximately 230 public investment trusts, ranging from basic to innovative products, to meet the diversified needs of retail and institutional investors. Nikko AM(1) employs over 400 people in Tokyo, New York, London and Singapore.

For further information, please visit: /

Note 1: "Nikko AM" stands for Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. and its group companies.

Note 2: *Consolidated Nikko AM Tokyo and its overseas subsidiaries' assets under management (includes advised assets).

Charles Beazley

President, Europe

Nikko Asset Management Europe Limited

Prior to joining Nikko Asset Management Europe, Charles Beazley worked for Gartmore as a main Board Director, Global Head of Institutional and Alternative Investments and Chairman of Gartmore Japan. He is a 23-year veteran of the asset management world and capital markets, previously spending 13 years at Merrill Lynch where he had responsibilities in Debt and then Equity capital markets before being made Managing Director in 1994 in the asset management division. Prior to Merrill he worked at Orion, the Investment banking subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada, and began his career at Lazard in London as an investment management trainee in the Fixed Income department.

He graduated from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London with his Bachelors in 1982 and his Masters in 1983.

Stuart Kinnersley

Chief Investment Officer

Nikko Asset Management Europe Limited

Stuart Kinnersley joined Nikko Asset Management Europe Ltd (Nikko AME) in 1998 and is Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the London office. As CIO he has responsibility for overseeing the management of the European region's assets, which include investment in Global Equities, Japanese Equities, Global Fixed Income and Non-Yen MMFs. Stuart is also Chairman of the Nikko AME Global Investment Committee, which brings together investment personnel from all overseas offices to formulate the global investment strategy.

Prior to joining Nikko AME, Stuart was Managing Director and Chief Investment Director at LTCB Foreign and Colonial Management, having held fund management positions in both Foreign and Colonial and the LTCB Foreign Joint Venture. Stuart began his career at Morgan Stanley. He graduated with a first- class degree in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1986.

Release link: 

Related:  Nikko - Asset - Management