Last month Nomura Asset Management -- a firm that some liken to the Fidelity of Japan -- won the subadvisory mandate from the Japan Fund from Fidelity Investments. Now Nomura executives are revealing plans to expand that beachhead by hiring wholesalers for the U.S. market.

The hirings would be the initial ones Nomura is making in the U.S. to specifically support the marketing and sales of U.S. located mutual funds. The promise to support sales of the fund was part of the deal Nomura executives struck with the Japan Fund's board.

"We will support distribution by creating a wholesaling team," Shigeru Shinohara, president and CEO of Nomura Asset Management, told the MFWire. He declined to provide additional details about the number and locations of the new jobs.

The new wholesalers will also have other funds to sell soon. Shinohara said that Nomura is planning to launch new funds later this year. The new mutual funds could include an Asian equity fund, an Indian equity fund and a China equity fund, he said. But the specifics of those plans are still in the works, Shinohara added.

"When building the funds we will look for managers with local expertise and a strong track record," Shinohara said. 

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