BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MFS Investment Management® (MFS®) today announced a series of personnel appointments and organizational enhancements to its Fixed Income department. The firm has named new regional heads for North America and Europe and seven new research directors. MFS is also creating new positions to address client customization needs and career development within its Fixed Income Research team.
"MFS has grown its fixed income franchise considerably over the last five years, adding investment professionals in the US, Canada and Europe. We believe this structure is more closely aligned with the growth of our business and investment capabilities. These enhancements will deepen our leadership team and position MFS to continue to meet the growing demands of our clients for many years to come," said William J. Adams, chief investment officer for Global Fixed Income at MFS.
Regional Heads
Pilar Gomez-Bravo, based in London, has been named director of Fixed Income – Europe. She will oversee the Global Aggregate and Global Credit portfolio management teams. She will continue to serve as the lead portfolio manager for MFS' global credit portfolios. She will also serve as a lead portfolio manager on MFS' Global Aggregate suite of strategies, effective today.
Joshua Marston has been named director of Fixed Income – North America. He will oversee the Boston- and Toronto-based Aggregate, Government, and Securitized Debt portfolio management teams. Marston will continue to serve as a portfolio manager on MFS' US Aggregate suite, Canadian Core Plus, and US Long Duration Credit strategies as well.
Research Directors
London-based fixed income analyst Lior Jassur has been named director of Fixed Income Research – Europe. He will report to Adams and will manage MFS' London-based fixed income research team.
Melissa Haskell has been named director of Fixed Income Research – North America. She will report to Adams and oversee the US and Canadian fixed income research teams. Haskell was previously the head of Municipal Credit Research.
Reporting to Haskell will be four new directors of research.
- Gerald Pendleton has been named director, Corporate Research, North America.
- David Cobey has been named director, High Yield Research.
- Jay Mitchell has been named director, Emerging Market Corporate Research.
- Megan Poplowski has been named director, Municipal Research.
All four individuals were previously research analysts and each have more than 17 years of investment experience.
"These individuals bring a wealth of knowledge across different disciplines, market sectors and market environments," said Adams. "This new structure will create greater cohesion among our fixed income teams."
Fixed Income Strategic Solutions
To meet the growing demand for innovative and custom client portfolios, MFS is creating a new role, Fixed Income Strategic Solutions Analyst. Sean Cameron, currently a quantitative research analyst, will now assume this new role and report to Adams. This new position will combine quantitative methodologies with economic and investment insights to support the delivery of client focused solutions. Cameron will be actively involved in new product development and support the day-to-day management of custom portfolios.
Mentor Program
MFS is also creating a formal mentoring role to aide its Fixed Income Research associates' growth and career development. Veteran research analyst Michael Pandolfi has been named director, Associate Research and will lead the department's mentoring efforts.
"Creating new roles to meet client needs and mentoring the next generation of research analysts will further enhance MFS' ability to differentiate itself among prospective clients and investment professionals," added Adams.
Portfolio Management Updates
In conjunction with the above, MFS is announcing the following portfolio management assignments, effective today:
- Gomez-Bravo joins portfolio managers Robert Spector and Richard Hawkins as lead portfolio managers of MFS Global Aggregate Core, Global Aggregate Core Plus, and Global Aggregate Opportunistic strategies. Hawkins, a long-time investment grade portfolio manager, has announced his intention to retire from portfolio management at MFS, effective June 30, 2018. At that time, Gomez-Bravo and Spector will become co-lead portfolio managers on these strategies.
- Alex Mackey joins the portfolio management team of the MFS' US Credit strategy, joining current portfolio managers Robert Persons and Hawkins.
- Persons also joins the portfolio management team of the firm's US Domestic Balanced strategy and will work in tandem with Hawkins to manage the strategy's investment grade debt exposure until Hawkins' retirement, ensuring a smooth transition.
About MFS Investment Management
Established
in 1924, MFS is an active, global investment manager with investment
offices in Boston, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, São Paulo, Singapore,
Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. We employ a uniquely collaborative approach
to build better insights for our clients. Our investment approach has
three core elements: integrated research, global collaboration and
active risk management. As of February 28, 2017, MFS manages US$440.8
billion in assets on behalf of individual and institutional investors
worldwide. Please visit mfs.com
for more information.
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