Without identifying the UK's move out of the European Union explicitly, the Japanese firm said it was building a marketing team in Luxembourg to handle EU-based clients. For the UK, it will retain its presence in London.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, aka SuMi TRUST, has set up a new investment marketing team in Luxembourg, switching from London as its base for reaching European Union-based clients. The move comes after the UK’s decision to leave the EU. 

The team, part of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Luxembourg SA (“SuMiTB Lux”), will promote SuMi TRUST’s investment products on the firm’s behalf.

“We believe that the EU market is extremely important to expand our global presence, which is one of our top management priorities. Establishing the team in Luxembourg underlines our commitment to strengthen our relationship with EU investors. With the new team in place, we will further deepen our connections with investors in this region,” Yoshio Hishida, president and CEO of SuMi TRUST, said.

SuMi TRUST is one of Asia’s largest asset managers, in charge of $759 billion of client money.

Jun Kito, head of investment management, will lead the new team. Kito, who has 27 years’ asset management experience with SuMi TRUST, has been involved in the firm’s international asset management business for European investors since 2013.

Until recently, the region was covered by SuMi TRUST’s London-based company, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust International (SuMiTI). In future, SuMiTB Lux will cover the EU countries while SuMiTI will continue to focus on the UK and EMEA excluding the EU, the Japanese firm said in a statement.