Neuberger Berman has hired 22 staff for a new emerging market debt team, 19 of them from ING Investment Management, the fund manager owned by ING Group, a financial services company based in Amsterdam.
Rob Drijkoningen, who became head of the global markets debt team at ING IM upon its inception in 1997, has been confirmed as co-head of Neuberger Berman’s emerging market debt team.
In January it was revealed that five of ING IM’s emerging markets team had quit for Neuberger Berman.
Drijkoningen will continue to be based in The Hague along with several others also hired by Neuberger Berman. These include lead fund managers Bart van der Made, who invests in hard currency bonds, Raoul Luttik, who invests in local currency bonds, and Nish Popat, who invests in corporate bonds.
Gorky Urquieta, former co-head of emerging market debt at ING IM, will now be co-head of Neuberger Berman’s team, based in Atlanta, United States, alongside lead fund manager Jennifer Gorgoll, who invests in corporate bonds.
A fifth lead fund manager to join Neuberger Berman, Prashant Singh, is based in Singapore and invests in local bond portfolios.
ING Group began a restructuring in 2012 and announced two major divestments of its asset management and insurance business in the fourth quarter last year.
Last month, ING said it would sell its local custody business in seven central and eastern European countries to Citi, which was seen as another step in its move to divest itself of non-core operations.
The group plans to “sharpen the focus” of its operations, concentrating on its position as an international retail, direct and commercial bank, but will also create an “optimal base” for insurance and investment management operations.
©2013 funds europe
