BofA Merrill Lynch Appoints Kenji Abe as Chief Equity Strategist

Bank of America (BofA) Merrill Lynch has appointed Kenji Abe as its newest chief Japan equity strategist, following his departure from Citi after a nearly five year tenure in a similar role.

In his new role as chief Japan equity strategist, Mr. Abe will be based out of BofA’s Tokyo branch, effective April 2, 2015. He will also be reporting to Eiichi Katayama, Head of Japan Research at BofA Merrill Lynch, working in tandem with Hong Kong-based Ajay Kapur, the bank’s Asia-Pacific equity strategist.

Prior to his appointment at BofA Merrill Lynch, Mr. Abe worked at Citi as its chief Japan equity strategist since 2010. Before this he also held similar roles at both Lehman Brothers and Nomura Securities.

Mr. Abe will be succeeding Naoki Kamiyama, who parted ways with the bank last month to assume a chief strategist role at Nikko Asset Management.