Navigating a career change in the global asset management industry: An interview with Masayuki Kaneko, head of Institutional Sales for North Asia, and CEO of HSBC Asset Management (Japan) Limited

Heidrick & Struggles’ Sari Hattanda speaks to Masayuki Kaneko about his extensive and diverse career in the asset management industry. 

Sari: Can you please share more about your career move from a domestic bank to a global bank?

Masayuki: I started my career at a domestic bank, the former Sanwa Bank (now Mitsubishi UFJ), where I formed a strong emotional attachment, as many new graduates in Japan often do when starting their first job. My initial career goal was to eventually become an executive. Early in my career, I was assigned to the International Department, which sparked my interest in working overseas and ultimately led to my decision to study abroad. However, after arriving in the US, the merger between Sanwa Bank and Mitsubishi was announced, leaving my career path uncertain under the new structure. During my time studying abroad, I decided to pivot and explore new opportunities. Having previously collaborated with a foreign investment bank while in the Planning Department, I became interested in investment banking. After obtaining my MBA, I took on a new role as an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group (FIG) at Deutsche Securities for around seven years, starting as an associate and eventually becoming a director.

Sari: How was your career transition from the sell-side to the buy-side?

Masayuki: At Deutsche Securities, I was very committed to its investment banking business such as cross-border M&A and foreign bond underwriting. However, in 2012, after the global financial crisis and European debt crisis, my position was eliminated and I traveled to Asia to recharge. Coincidently while in Shanghai, I was approached by a headhunter about a role at HSBC, which led to a new chapter in my career. 

I transitioned from being an investment banker to a commercial banker. At that time, the HSBC Group was transforming into a hybrid bank similar to the Deutsche Bank Group. Since the global head had an investment banking background, especially for the FIG client coverage, we needed to grow both investment banking and commercial banking businesses. In addition to the existing commercial banking members, I hired people from investment banks who had experience in M&A and debt capital markets (DCM) in order to strengthen the team holistically.

Sari: You have faced major challenges such as the merger of Sanwa Bank with Mitsubishi and the impact of the global financial crisis. However, it seems you have turned these challenges into opportunities. How have you managed to come back stronger each time and further develop your career? 

Masayuki: After doing the same work for more than five years, I feel that the learning curve tends to flatten. That’s when I start to seek new challenges. At Japanese banks, internal job rotations allowed me to gain various work experiences both domestically and internationally. On the other hand, at global companies, you are hired as a specialist for a specific role, which means you need to forge your own career path.

After serving as the head of FIG at HSBC Bank for about six years, I also took on the role of co-leading the Global Banking department. When the former Japan CEO of HSBC Asset Management completed his expatriate assignment, I was asked to apply for his position. Given my previous experience as an investment banker, advising asset management companies on investments and acquisition deals, it gave me valuable exposure to the asset management industry. With strategic ideas already in mind, I aspired to take on the challenge of this new role. I also recognized that asset management is an area where we should invest management resources for HSBC’s future. 

Sari: I understand that your role expanded this spring and some of your time is now spent based in Hong Kong. How has the experience been so far? 

Masayuki: After serving as the Japan CEO of HSBC Asset Management for four years, I started to have more opportunities to collaborate with the Asia management team on various projects, and became interested in gaining experience at our global headquarters in Hong Kong. Around that time, the head of Institutional Sales in North Asia retired, and I was asked to succeed in that role. My responsibilities for institutional clients have expanded to include the China, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong markets, which has been fascinating given the size of the business in North Asia. I reside in Hong Kong for less than half of the year, which makes it very convenient to engage in business across Asia flexibly. For instance, I can have a meeting in the office and then be in the airport lounge joining a Zoom meeting an hour later while waiting for my flight. 

Sari: What is your primary focus at work recently?

Masayuki: I continue to serve as both CEO in Japan and head of Institutional Sales for North Asia, so I am working on effectively allocating my time between management and sales. Recently, I strengthened my Japan team by internally transferring a Japanese-speaking COO from Hong Kong. 

Sari: What do you expect from future Japanese leaders?

Masayuki: I hope to see more people with strengths that can be valued not just in Japan but also globally. I feel that, compared to Japan, there are many executives overseas who are more active, ambitious, and hungry. 

I am disappointed to see that the number of people interested in studying abroad or being transferred overseas is decreasing in Japan. We hope to see an increase in people who can leverage the strengths of Japanese culture, such as planning, accurate execution, consideration, and cooperation, and who can play an active role globally with a broad perspective.