There is a new head for Japan at the European-headquartered asset management giant.

AXA Investment Managers has appointed Francisco Arcilla as head of Japan. The role involves leading the firm’s distribution and business development in the country, as well as expanding its footprint there.

Effective from 1 April, the appointment means Arcilla reports to Christophe Coquema, global head of client group at AXA IM. He replaces Mikifumi Watanabe, who retires on 30 June after having led the Japanese office for 10 years.

“Given our ambition for global growth, Japan is a crucially important region for AXA IM and we have worked hard to find the correct individual to replace Miki and take on this challenge,” Coquema said in a statement.

Arcilla joined AXA IM in 2011 as global head of its funds of hedge funds team, before running the external managers group. Most recently, he was director of product development at AXA Rosenberg.

AXA IM has been operating in Asia-Pacific since 1998 with offices in Tokyo, Hong-Kong, Beijing, Singapore and Sydney, as well as joint ventures in Shanghai, Seoul and Mumbai. At the end of last year, it oversaw a total of €623 billion of assets, making it one of the largest asset management houses in the world.