FRENCH asset manager Tikehau Capital announced on Tuesday that it has appointed banking veteran Neil Parekh as the head of Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Parekh, a Singapore citizen, will join the team as a partner later this year from National Australia Bank (NAB), where he is completing his tenure as general manager of Asia. In that position, he was responsible for all business, regulatory and governance matters for the bank's Asian business.

In his new role, he will be responsible for deepening investment capabilities and growing the business of Tikehau Capital in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, working alongside the firm's existing management team in Asia.

Some key areas Tikehau Capital will focus on in Asia include speeding up its investment pace in the region, pursuing investment partnerships and joint ventures with Asian players and diversifying its Limited Partner base in the region.

Singapore's Temasek Holdings is among investors which have a stake in Euronext Paris-listed Tikehau Capital. Another notable investor is Morgan Stanley, which acquired a stake in the French asset manager last year.

Mr Parekh has more than three decades of global experience in the financial-services industry in the Asia-Pacific, US and Europe.

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He joined NAB in 2013 from Natixis, where he headed Corporate and Institutional Banking Coverage for Asia and was a member of the Executive Committee - Asia-Pacific.

Prior to that, he held senior roles at Societe Generale as global head of Non-Investment Grade Finance and head of US Debt Capital Markets; at DBS, he was global head of financial institutions group and head of the Middle East region. He also worked with Bank of America in various product and client coverage roles.

Bruno de Pampelonne, chairman of Tikehau Investment Management, said: "With a remarkable career spanning over 30 years, he has become a senior leader of the business and broader community in the Asia-Pacific region. His deep knowledge of the region and his extensive relationships will be invaluable to Tikehau Capital's business in Asia, Australia and New Zealand and help to further strengthen the firm's footprint in the region."

Tikehau Capital has rapidly expanded across Asia since the opening of its Singapore office in 2015, followed by the opening of offices in Seoul in 2017 and Tokyo in 2019.

This month, Tikehau Capital raised its stake for Singapore-listed IReit Global to 29.2 per cent from 16.64 per cent. Tikehau Capital co-owns IReit Global Group, the manager of IReit Global.

As at Dec 31, 2019, Tikehau Capital had €25.8 billion (S$39.62 billion) in assets under management and shareholder equity of €3.1 billion. The group invests in various asset classes such as private debt, real estate, private equity and capital markets strategies, including through its asset management subsidiaries on behalf of institutional and private investors.

As at the end of last year, Tikehau Capital employed more than 530 staff in its Paris, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, New York, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo offices.