M&G Investments has appointed Andrew Chorlton as chief investment officer of its £139 billion (US$178.73 billion) fixed income division. He will succeed Jim Leaviss, who has decided to pursue personal interests in academia following a 27-year career with the firm.

Currently head of fixed income at Schroders and member of the firm’s group management committee, Chorlton will join the business later this year and will report to M&G Investments chief executive officer Joseph Pinto.

Chorlton has more than 25 years of experience in fixed income markets managing teams of experienced, high-performing fund managers. He has direct portfolio management experience in global fixed income, US multi-sector and credit strategies in Europe and the United States.

Since 2020, Chorlton has been responsible for a global division of investment, research, risk, and product professionals.

He has led the development of multiple innovative strategies and client solutions across many areas of fixed income, including sustainability, quantitative credit, semi-liquid credit, emerging market debt, tax-aware, and opportunistic strategies into markets around the world such as the launch of active ETF strategies in the US.

Leaviss has spearheaded the company’s growth in fixed income, with the team widely recognized as a leading active manager in the asset class, managing £139 billion in assets on behalf of international investors. Under his leadership, Leaviss has been responsible for building a global fixed income platform, including developing one of largest credit research teams in the industry; launching innovative investment products to account for the evolution of bond markets; and the development of the next generation of investment talent.

Leaviss also launched the award-winning Bond Vigilantes blog in 2006 to share the team’s views on the things that matter to bond investors – inflation, interest rates and the global economy.

He will leave in the autumn following a smooth transition and handover of responsibilities.

M&G’s public fixed income platform has teams in the United Kingdom, European Union, the US and Asia. The teams manage a range of strategies across investment-grade credit, high-yield credit, government bonds, emerging market debt, absolute return, flexible credit, multi-asset credit and annuities.

The firm launched the UK’s first pure corporate bond fund in 1994, the UK’s first high-yield corporate bond fund in 1998, and the M&G Optimal Income Fund in 2006. Its Asia fixed income business was established in Singapore in 2022.