Ken Sakuramoto joins JLL from Eastdil Secured
Global property consultancy JLL made a pair of leadership appointments in Asia in the past week, looking outward to hire Ken Sakuramoto as head of equity advisory for Japan and Radha Dhir as chief executive for India.
Based in Tokyo, Sakuramoto will take charge of expanding JLL’s international capital coverage, both inbound and outbound, and further developing the agency’s corporate finance capabilities in Japan. He comes to JLL from Eastdil Secured, a real estate investment bank, where he was managing director and head of Japan.
Sakuramoto’s primary focus will be major international and institutional client coverage for Japan, JLL said in a press release issued on 21 January. He will serve as part of JLL’s global and regional client programme and provide coverage to all international investors investing in or actively looking to invest in Japan, advising on local market practices, corporate structuring and availability of debt.
Sakuramoto’s international capital responsibilities will extend to outbound capital coverage of Japanese investors already active and looking to increase offshore investment. He will also be responsible for building a broader corporate finance and debt platform for JLL’s Japan capital markets business to meet client demands for joint ventures, capital raisings and structured transactions.
Investment Advisory Expertise
In his previous role at New York-based Eastdil Secured, Sakuramoto was responsible for pairing buy-side clients with outbound real estate products in Japan, advising offshore investors entering the market, and sourcing and executing local transactions by leveraging global relationships, JLL said.
Sakuramoto’s previous experience includes seven years as a director in the investment banking division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he had responsibility for all client relationships within the listed/private real estate sector and J-REIT space. Before that, he served as a vice president in the investment banking division of Citi and as an associate at Mizuho Financial Group.
All of Sakuramoto’s earlier postings were in Tokyo, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Keio University.
Shifting to Real Estate
Radha Dhir, a long-time financial services executive, was announced as the CEO of JLL India on 19 January, succeeding Ramesh Nair, who left the agency to pursue other opportunities. She was to assume her new role on Monday.
Radha Dhir succeeds Ramesh Nair as head of JLL India
Dhir was previously group president and head of multinational corporate banking at Yes Bank in Mumbai. Before that, she was managing director and head of the global subsidiary coverage group at Deutsche Bank India, where she led a relationship management team serving multinationals and India-based corporates.
“I am delighted to welcome Ms Dhir as India CEO to lead JLL in one of the most important and exciting real estate markets in the world,” said JLL Asia Pacific CEO Anthony Couse. “I am confident that by bringing in a leader from outside of real estate, whose skills and expertise complement those of our existing management team, we will be able to take the business to the next level.”
As CEO, Dhir will set the overall strategic direction of JLL India, tapping into the growth opportunities of the fast-maturing market.
“I am honoured to be joining JLL at this critical time in India’s growth and development as we look towards a post-COVID future,” she said. “I have admired the JLL brand for some time and witnessed its growth and success over the past decade. I now look forward to bringing my experience from 25 years in the banking industry to JLL’s business, and to collaborating with the top-notch India leadership team.”
Her predecessor Nair spent 21 years at JLL after brief stints at CBRE and Colliers.
“Ramesh Nair has been a great asset to JLL in his two decades with the firm,” Couse said. “I am grateful for his service, his commitment, and I thank him for the immense contribution he has made in building the business over the years.”
In addition to the new hires in India and Japan, JLL also last week introduced former CBRE executive Tom Woolhouse as its new head of industrial for Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, Woolhouse will oversee JLL’s logistics, industrial and supply chain business for the region through the newly created position.
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