Headshot of Hiroshi

Hiroshi

Head—Global Institutional Marketing

at AB  /  of Experience

 

Hiroshi’s executive role is based in Nashville, Tennessee. But his journey to the position began 25 years earlier and some 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers) away.

Born in Osaka, Japan, Hiroshi was raised in Tokyo, and holds a BA in economics from the University of Tokyo. A few years and several jobs later, he joined a global consulting firm, advising corporate pension funds clients, where he found AB among the top-notch asset managers the firm evaluated and which many clients trusted.

This connection would prove to be the touchstone that kept AB on Hiroshi’s radar for years. In 2007, he jumped at the opportunity to bring his asset-management experience to AB. “I joined the AB Tokyo office as a product specialist in fixed income and alternatives, which leveraged my pension and asset-allocation knowledge into a new role for the company,” he said. “By promoting our capabilities to retail and institutional investors, I was quickly immersed in many unfamiliar areas of the business, especially business development, which I really enjoyed.”

Hiroshi’s broadening knowledge soon earned him a promotion to head up AB’s marketing in Japan, which also brought an opportunity to mentor a diverse team of skilled individual contributors. “My manager saw my leadership potential, but it was still very challenging,” he said. 

 

AB provided the resources and encouragement I needed to succeed in my transition and help my team make a positive impact.

Hiroshi—Head—Global Institutional Marketing

For his next challenge, Hiroshi would later step up as COO of the Client Group in Japan, a key position that combined running the local operation with sharing his unique perspectives across the global organization. It wasn’t long until senior leaders sought to bring him stateside and into the newly created post of Head of Global Institutional Marketing. AB’s Institutional business had been growing quickly, and it was time to create a dedicated marketing focus separate from retail. Hiroshi’s diverse institutional experience—and desire for new locales—were a distinctive match.

Hiroshi and his family now make their home in picturesque Franklin, Tennessee, about a 30-minute drive from AB’s Nashville headquarters. “Paradise,” he calls it, adding that culture shock to his new surroundings never set in.

 

AB is a globally aware company with a strong culture of inclusiveness. This fosters an openness for ideas and backgrounds. And because of this, I had worked with diverse teams all over the world—and still do—but I’m now just a lot closer in proximity. We love it here.

Hiroshi—Head—Global Institutional Marketing