Aegon Asset Management has appointed Russ Morrison as its new global chief investment officer responsible for managing its €170 (US $188) billion fixed income investment platform. Morrison, who joined on June 29, will lead the firm’s 140 fixed income investment professionals globally.
Morrison brings over 30 years of fixed income and financial services experience to the role, most recently at Barings (formerly Babson Capital). During his 17-year tenure at the firm he held several senior positions including president & head of fixed income, equities and multi-asset.
Prior to Barings, Morrison held positions in the fixed income divisions at First Union Bank, Ernst & Young Management Consultants and North Carolina National Bank.
Morrison joins Aegon Asset Management following the integration of its Asian, European and US businesses, to form a global asset manager under a single management board, led by Bas NieuweWeme as CEO.
The integration brought together its regional investment teams into four distinct investment platforms for fixed income, real assets, equities and multi-asset & solutions, each under a global CIO framework, to manage its €352bn of assets under management.
In the new role Morrison will be responsible for the 140 strong team of fixed income portfolio managers, strategists and analysts worldwide including the 50-member global credit research team. Based in Chicago, Morrison will become a member of AAM’s global management board and report to NieuweWeme.
Following Morrison’s appointment Kirk Buese, the current interim global CIO for fixed income, will retire from the business after 33 years’ service. Buese took responsibility for the platform on an interim basis during the recruitment process, having previously stated his desire to retire this year. He will remain with the business for a short period to ensure a smooth transition.
NieuweWeme says, ‘Russ has a wealth of experience running multi-geographic teams, managing private and publicly listed fixed income assets for general account and third-party clients worldwide. His appointment to this new role represents the culmination of the integration of our regional based teams into our global fixed income platform. I would also like to wish Kirk a very long and happy retirement and thank him for leading the global team on the interim basis, but also for his considerable contribution to the business of the last three decades.’
Morrison says: ‘I am looking forward to working with the team at Aegon Asset Management as we look to maximise the full potential of our global fixed income team, bringing their expertise and knowledge to our client across the globe.’
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