Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch Trust Japan has revealed that it wants to double its assets under management to 200 billion Japanese yen ($2.3 billion) over the next five years, Reuters reports.

The Geneva-based private wealth manager said at the recent Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit in Tokyo that it plans to build more alliances with regional banks and increase its partnership numbers from five to ten. As of May 2009, the company has around CHF130 billion ($126 trillion) in AUM.

Japanese investors, particularly the high net worth individuals, are reportedly hesitant to engage in new investments are focusing on low-risk activities on concerns that the current economic rebound could fade by autumn, Masahiko Murakami, the president of Lombard Odier, was quoted to have said.

Investors need more time to start investing. People who were seeking high-leveraged products in the past are investing in products that have high liquidity in the second half of the year.

Figures from the latest Merrill Lynch/Capgemini survey show that there were 1.38 million high net worth individuals in Japan in 2008 -- a 10 per cent decline from the previous year. However, the news service noted, this drop is relatively small compared to the 61 per cent fall in the number of HNWIs in Hong Kong or the 32 per cent fall in India.

Lombard Odier's present Japanese partnerships include Yamaguchi Bank and Shizuoka Bank.