Lynn Akashi
Chief Strategy Officer
Lynn is a Founding Partner of Zetland Capital, leading the firm’s growth and change initiatives to bring about our long-term goals and vision. She believes we must all live our values, with a leadership style that is grounded in inclusion, transparency and clarity of purpose.
Lynn comes to Zetland with over 20 years of experience in both public and private markets. She joined the founding team of Salomon Smith Barney’s proprietary Special Situations and Distressed desk in New York, including the expansion of the business to Tokyo at the back-end of the 90s. Lynn was then asked to join Citigroup’s nascent London Leverage Finance team building both the primary markets across Europe and secondary loan sales and trading businesses. Lynn is a graduate of Wellesley College in Economics and Political Science.
Living our Values
“I grew up in Hawaii with entrepreneurial parents. My mother immigrated from Korea after the war and re-built her life. My father’s family has been in Hawaii for five generations, building Hawaii’s first paper box and packaging company back in the 1940s.
Looking back, I learned so much from just hanging around the family businesses, mucking-in, doing whatever it takes, and simply working hard. Growing up in Hawaii, one naturally picks up a strong sense of family, service, and giving back. These values play into my motivations and everyday working style.
I’ve always enjoyed what I do; and I’ve had the good fortune of working with amazing and diverse teams at every stage in my career. At Zetland, we bring our whole-selves and strive hard to live our values. We dare to love and enjoy what we do!”