Premier Miton has appointed Lloyd Harris to take the reins of its new fixed income team after he was let go from Merian Global Investors during its takeover by Jupiter Asset Management.
The fund house announced today (June 23) it has hired Mr Harris — alongside his former Merian colleagues Simon Prior and Przemysław Pietraszek — to bolster its fixed income department.
Premier Miton, which already offers Premier Corporate Bond Monthly Income and Premier UK Money Market funds, intends to launch further portfolios equivalent to the range Mr Harris and his team had been managing at Merian over the past few years.
The team was let go from Merian when Jupiter outlined its roadmap for its funds post-takeover. Although it kept the majority of Merian’s flagship strategies intact, some six fund managers were let go in the move.
Chun Lee, current manager of Premier Miton’s fixed income range, and Hoy Wan, co-manager of the funds, will be part of the new fixed income team and report to Mr Harris.
Mr Harris said: “I am excited to be joining Premier Miton to manage the Premier Corporate Bond Monthly Income fund and to lead its fixed income team.
“Joining alongside my previous team co-members, Simon Prior and Przemysław Pietraszek, means that, together with Chun Lee and Hoy Wan, we will have a very strong team on day one to manage and grow this fund.”
He added that Premier Miton shared the team’s core active management and client-focused values, so they had an “excellent basis” on which to build the company’s fixed income business.
Neil Birrell, chief investment officer at Premier Miton, said the hires were a key part of the firm’s strategy to “strengthen and broaden” its investment capabilities and to deliver “great investment areas”.
Mr Birrell added: “We are committed to growing our team and see ourselves as a consolidator of active investment talent.
“Developing our group of managers and investment strategies has been an important component of our vision since the merger last year created Premier Miton Investors and we believe that doing so will deliver benefits for clients and support our long term business growth.”
Investment consultant at Fairview Investing, Ben Yearsley, said it was a “good hire” for Premier Miton.
He said: “I was slightly surprised when Jupiter let them go pre-merger as they are a good team and have been taking money. The hire strengthens what was a weak area for Premier Miton.”
Jupiter announced it was to acquire rival fund house Merian Global Investors in February this year for £370m, all via shares in Jupiter.
Merian shareholders will own a combined 17 per cent of the business after the takeover is completed and the five fund managers who were major shareholders in Merian will own about 1 per cent of the combined company.
Premier Miton has recently gone through its own merger. The mid-tier fund house was formed when Miton Group and Premier Asset Management agreed to merge in September last year.
