Ex hedgie joins Eerdmans' Investec GEM debt team

Investec Asset Management has appointed Victoria Harling as co-portfolio manager of its Emerging Markets Corporate Debt Strategy alongside Citywire A-rated Peter Eerdmans (pictured).

Harling, who has formerly worked at Henderson Global Investors, will also take responsibility for corporate emerging markets debt and hard currency emerging market debt.

Prior to joining Investec, Harling worked at Henderson for eight years, during which time she ran the emerging market debt portfolios.

She then spent five years running hedge fund and proprietary trading strategies while gaining sell-side experience at Nomura.

Investec’s Emerging Markets Corporate Debt fund, unveiled last April as a Luxembourg Sicav, will be will also be run with the support of the firm’s global credit team and that of the global emerging markets debt and currency team.

The fund aims to offer a diversified portfolio of corporate debt across emerging markets. Investec believes opportunity lies in this space as the market is under-invested and because the market is offering a growing supply of quality bond issuers with attractive yields.

Co-chief investment officer, Domenico Ferrini, said: ‘We continue to build upon our established track record as a specialist fixed income manager by creating relevant investment capabilities for our clients.’

The fund has returned 7.01% year to date, compared with the sector average of 6.21%.

The hire comes shortly after BlackRock announced it is set to expand its emerging market debt capabilities with the hire of a team from BNP Paribas.