Goldman Sachs Asset Management has hired its first head of product development for Asia-Pacific, according to an internal memo.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has hired its first head of product development for Asia-Pacific, according to an internal memo seen by WealthBriefingAsia.

Masaki Taniguchi rejoined the Hong Kong office of the US firm last week, after spending ten years with Tokyo-based asset manager Sparx, where he was most recently chief operating officer.

“He will work closely with Shunichi Yamada to leverage our product strategy experience in Japan, and with Shoqat Bunglawala (both in product strategy) to leverage international products that require local fund vehicles,” said the memo, signed off by Oliver Bolitho head of GSAM in Asia, Shigeki Kiritani, president of GSAM in Japan, and 
Glen Casey, head of product strategy and development at GSAM. 

Taniguchi will be tasked with driving GSAM’s product offering to institutional investors and fund distributors in the region. Over time he is expected to build a regional product development team, depending on the environment and opportunities, press reports say.

In his previous role with GSAM, he was in charge of strategic planning, product development and institutional marketing.

GSAM had around $93 billion in Asia-sourced assets at 31 December 2011, approximately 13 per cent of its global figure.