She has been the interim manager of the £520m fund since April this year when previous manager Stephen Snowden left to join what is now Kames Capital, formerly Aegon Asset Management UK.
Johnson joined the firm in September 2010 from Halbis Cpaital where she focused on sterling credit before also managing global portfolios. Prior to this she specialised in high yield investing at Investec Asset Management.
As she has in her interim role, she will continue to manage the fund on a thematic basis, focusing on putting together a high quality, low risk portfolio that will still deliver an attractive level of income.
The fund will remain at least 80% invested in investment grade bonds – it is currently at 87% – and 100% hedged into sterling though she has the flexibility to use global themes, non-investment grade and government bonds.
Of her approach she says: “The fund remains defensively positioned given the current risks in Europe and the financial sector. However, we believe there are strong areas of value in corporate bonds in core sectors, especially outside Europe.”
