Burns joins Barings from Visor Capital in Kazakhstan, a boutique investment bank with an FSA-authorised UK subsidiary, where he was also chief investment officer.
Before his time there Burns was at Fidelity International as head of European risk management for three years, and prior to that was at Schroders for 10 years, with COO responsibilities for its Asia operations.
In his new role Burns will be responsible for: information technology; operations; human resources; legal; compliance; organisational risk; business services and change management.
The appointment is subject to regulatory approval.