Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), which manages roughly £23 billion in fixed-income assets, is planning to add to its corporate credit research team on a select basis. Alan Reid, global head of bonds in Edinburgh, says the European credit market continues to grow, creating the need to bring more analysts on board. Reid says the hires will likely be at a junior level and that the firm does not have a specific number of hires in mind.
Most recently, SWIP hired Colin Burt as director of high yield, global bonds and economics. Burt's position is newly created and he reports to Reid. The position was created to fill a need for expertise in high-yield bonds as increasingly benchmarks include high-yield names, says Reid. Burt joined from Abbey National Treasury Services where he was a portfolio manager.