Mesirow Financial Hong Kong, the local subsidiary of Chicago investment firm Mesirow Financial Holdings, has strengthened its expansion efforts in North Asia and South Korea with a new hire.

Chae-Joo Lee takes the role of head of Korea, focusing on the client service and business development activities of the firm's hedge fund unit Mesirow Advanced Strategies. In this newly-created position, Lee will be based in Hong Kong and deal with Korea and North Asia affairs.

Before joining the company, Lee was chief executive and head of Korea at FRM Investment Advisory in Seoul, where he worked closely with clients with multi-manager hedge fund portfolio strategies. He brings over 25 years of industry experience to the role. 

"South Korea is a sophisticated and growing marketplace for alternative investments; we are excited to bring our hedge fund solutions to this important part of the Asian market," said Marty Kaplan, CEO of Mesirow Advanced Strategies.

Mesirow Financial has around $58 billion in alternative assets under management worldwide. It offers services in investment management, global markets, insurance and consulting.