During his eight years with Schroders he worked on corporate bond funds, and from 2008 was head of European and UK credit strategies.
Schroders has undergone a vast restructure of its fixed income desk in recent months which has seen relative newcomers Bob Jolly and Gareth Isaac take on further responsibilities.
At Santander he will manage the European fixed income and credit team of 17 who are spread across Germany, the UK, Poland and Spain, and will himself be based in London.
In his new role Cordery is transitioning from an intermediaries-facing role to one in which institutional clients are his sole focus.
Patrick Vogel was appointed head of European and UK credit management and research at Schroders following a reshuffle of the department at the time Cordery left the firm.
Santander hit the headlines in February when it announced it may pull out of the UK face-to-face advisory market following poor reports by an FSA mystery shopper.