Vontobel Asset Management is building its capability to push further its fixed interest strategies in Australia and New Zealand, with the recruitment of experienced marketer Andreas Faeste, as senior relationships manager, based in Sydney.
Until recently, Faeste operated as a third-party marketer in Australia, representing Voya Investment Management, and prior to that providing sales consultancy services to other managers.
As reported last week, Vontobel recently won its first fixed income agreement in Australia, with Alpha Fund Managers, for emerging markets debt. The firm, best known in this region for its equities strategies, also won a mandate for global equities from Alpha.
Bobby Bostic, managing director, who heads up sales for Australia and New Zealand, said last week: “Australia remains one of the fastest-growing markets with large allocations to both traditional and alternative debt strategies, where we see interesting potential for some of our prime capabilities like emerging debt, multi sector bond and asset backed securities. The addition of Andreas expresses our desire to showcase our investment solutions and sends a strong signal of Vontobel’s continued commitment to the Australian market.”
With Voya, Feaste also represented a specialist fixed income strategy. He said that institutional investors well understood the risks associated with fixed income – such as the possibility of rising interest rates in major markets such as the US – and that there was a trend towards alternative fixed income strategies.
“They are looking for the more esoteric parts of the fixed income spectrum,” he said.
Vontobel offers two distinct fixed income capabilities: a traditional sovereign bond fund, with its management based in Zurich, which is Vontobel’s home city, and a higher-octane capability, known as ‘TwentyFour Asset Management’, based in London. Most of its strategies are absolute returns focussed.
The firm is a multi-affiliate-style manager with boutiques across a broad range of strategies, providing mainly customised solutions to super funds and other institutions, including an ANZ. It manages US$107 billion of assets globally, as of last June.
Greg Bright is publisher of Investor Strategy News (Australia)