M&G Investments has announced the departure of fixed income boss Jim Leaviss (pictured) after 27 years at the firm.
Leaviss, who was appointed head of fixed income in 2020, will leave to pursue a masters in the history of art.
He will be replaced by Schroders head of fixed income Andrew Chorlton later this year, who will oversee M&G’s £139bn public fixed income.
Joseph Pinto, M&G Investments CEO, paid tribute to Leaviss’s time at the firm, saying he should be “extremely proud” of his career at M&G.
“Jim has delivered excellent returns for our clients and his unique way of communicating has always been very engaging with clients, by sharing the team’s insights straight from the desk. When Jim leaves later this year, he will go with our thanks for his contribution and our very best wishes as he pursues academic interests.”
“With Andrew [Chorlton]’s vast experience as both a fund manager and as a leader, we have appointed a fixed income heavyweight who will lead this highly experienced team at a time where we expect significant opportunities to materialise within bond markets as the rate cycle starts to move,” Pinto added.
“We are excited by the opportunity to capitalise on the growth of our global fixed income platform by making strategies managed for our internal insurance client more widely available to our growing international client base, including global banks, family offices, pensions funds and insurance companies in the UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific.”
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Global Macro Bond fund changes
Leaviss launched the £903m Global Macro Bond fund in 1999.
M&G has announced Eva Sun-Wai and Rob Burrows as co-lead managers following his exit. Sun-Wai was appointed co-manager of the strategy in 2021 and also leads the Global Government Bond strategy.
Burrows joined the firm in 2007 and specialises in government bond and macro fixed income mandates.
Reacting to the changes, Darius McDermott, managing director of FundCalibre said his firm would change the fund’s rating from ‘Elite’ to ‘Elite Radar’.
“We have known Jim Leaviss for many years as he has been a huge part of the success behind the fixed income franchise at M&G,” he said.
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Schroders fixed income changes
Schroders has announced it will create a fixed income leadership team and will not directly replace Chorlton’s role.
The team will be made up of head of global unconstrained FI Julien Houdain, head of credit for Europe Patrick Vogel, head of US multi-sector fixed income Lisa Hornby, head of emerging market debt and commodities Abdallah Guezour, global head of credit research Patrick McCullagh and head of fixed income management Andrew Moscow.
The firm said that Chorlton’s role focused on business strategy and execution, rather than fund management, and therefore there would be no impact on clients, investment team or process.
