By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, July 1 (Reuters) - WisdomTree Investments, the world's sixth-largest exchange-traded fund provider, said on Wednesday it was opening an office in Tokyo, joining a growing number of foreign asset management firms looking to tap business chances created by Abenomics.
The New York-based company, with about $63.7 billion in assets under management globally, has hired Jesper Koll, a high-profile former Japanese equity strategist at JPMorgan known for his bullish view on Japanese stocks, to head the Tokyo business.
WisdomTree manages some $19 billion in Japan-focused investments and is a leader in dividend-weighted "Smart Beta" ETFs. Its Japan Hedged Equity ETF has $18.1 billion in assets.
"Japan is evolving rapidly as an investment market and Japanese investors are looking for new investment solutions. WisdomTree is a firm of thoughtful, research-driven investment solutions and I am excited to help bring this story to Japan," Koll said in a statement.
Koll, a German national who speaks fluent Japanese, previously held senior economist and strategist positions at Merrill Lynch and the Tiger Fund in Japan.
He has had a seat on several Japanese government advisory committees and is one of the few non-Japanese members of the Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives.
Foreign asset management firms have been rushing to Japan as Japanese investors look to increase their investment in riskier assets after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's radical stimulus programme brought down domestic bond yields.
Boston-based Acadian Asset Management started business in Japan in November.
(Reporting by Tomo Uetake; Editing by Alan Raybould)