Robeco today (13 May) said it had hired an experienced specialist Emerging Market Debt (EMD) team, consisting of three lead portfolio managers "who have built an excellent track record".

Diliana Deltcheva, Richard Briggs, and Nicholas Sauer will join Robeco to complement its Emerging Markets (EM) offering with the launch of both hard currency and local currency sovereign debt strategies during the second half of this year.

EM is one of Robeco’s five key investments strengths, it said, with the company active in these markets for more than 30 years building "outstanding records" in EM equities and EM corporates.

As part of the company’s 2021-2025 strategy, enhancing its EM capabilities with a sovereign EMD capability is an important step in addressing market demands. It complements Robeco’s current Fixed Income offerings in EM, which cover Asian Bonds and EM Credits.

The team joining Robeco, has a proven ability to deliver long-term first quartile client returns in sovereign EM markets, the asset manager said.

The team hire enables Robeco to offer attractive EMD capabilities with a strong integration of its sustainability insights.

Diliana Deltcheva, has been Head of EMD at Candriam since March 2015. She started her career over 20 years ago at ING Investment Management in the Netherlands as a Quantitative Fixed Income analyst, where she became an EMD fund manager in 2006. Between 2011 and 2015, she worked at F&C Investments as a senior emerging fund manager.

Richard Briggs, has been co-portfolio manager of the Candriam EMD HC sovereign strategies, and lead manager on the Candriam Emerging Markets Debt Local Currencies strategy. He has almost 15 years of experience in EM markets with a strong focus on Latin American, African and Asian countries. He joined Candriam in 2022. Prior to that, he built up his EMD experience in several roles at GAM Investments, CreditSights and Alliance Trust.

Nicholas Sauer, has been a co-portfolio manager at Candriam on the EMD HC sovereign strategies since 2019. Previously, he worked at BMO Asset Management in the role of EMD specialist and portfolio manager. Nicholas has been active in EM markets for almost 15 years, where next to the portfolio manager role he had a particular focus on the sustainably angle of these markets.

Mark van der Kroft, chief investment officer at Robeco said: “Expanding in EMD is a logical step for Robeco, as it combines two of our key strengths: investing in emerging markets and our expertise in Fixed Income. This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our Fixed Income capabilities.

"These appointments and the expansion of our offering with an EMD capability, enable us to better serve our clients and capitalize on the opportunities present in this dynamic asset class. Robeco has a long-term fundamental view on emerging markets, a grouping of constantly evolving and highly diverse countries at different stages of development.

"A long-term view is vital to uncovering the structural drivers in emerging markets, which together with our Quant and Sustainable Investing capabilities allow us to harness the wide range of emerging markets opportunities.“