US investment bank Jefferies has appointed Naomi Kumagai, Makarim Salman and Masahiro Wakasugi as senior equity research analysts, based in Tokyo.
Kumagai will cover the healthcare sector, Salman will cover the financial services and insurance sectors and Wakasugi will cover the technology sector.
Jefferies is currently working to establish a full-service equity sales, trading and research platform in Asia with a focus on Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, India, Korea and Taiwan. The firm now has 15 equity research analysts covering over 75 companies in Asia. As part of the company's ongoing build-out in the region, Jefferies plans to continue to add equities staff and expand its research coverage.
Kumagai joins Jefferies from Australian broker Macquarie Capital Securities, where she spent three years as a senior equity research analyst. Previously, she worked in business development at Banyu Pharmaceutical, and prior to that worked as an equity research analyst at Deutsche Trust Bank and Goldman Sachs.
Salman also joins the firm from Macquarie Capital Securities, where he spent three years as a senior equity research analyst covering insurance and securities companies. Previously, he worked in the insurance industry for seven years as an insurance risk officer at ING Life Japan and an executive advisor at KPMG.
Wakasugi previously worked at AllianceBernstein, where he spent 10 years and was most recently a senior vice president and equity research analyst. While at that firm, he was one of the portfolio managers for the Asian technology fund from 2005 to 2009. Before that, he spent four years at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting in management consulting.
The three new appointments follow the hiring of Sean Huang as head of securities finance trading in Asia in May and the appointment of six new managing directors in Asia in April.
Jefferies' equity trading business now consists of more than 700 professionals globally, with some 200 of those outside the US.