Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) is developing its private debt business with the appointment of Nicholas Bamber as head of private assets. He will report to Aaron Meder, head of investment at LGIM.
Bamber previously worked at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for 20 years, his last role being head of corporate coverage in the UK. He left RBS along with two other managers as part of a reshuffle of the bank's wholesale business, Reuters reported last year. RBS then combined flow sales and trading across fixed income, credit and currencies under Kieran Higgins, then head of trading.
"This is an important next step in our strategy to provide holistic end-to-end solutions for our customers," said Meder. "Demand for private debt is growing as investors look to lock into the enhanced yields that this asset class can offer over the term. Nick will focus initially on European private placements, but the ambition is to build a global business across currencies and asset classes."
The private assets business will build on LGIM's strengths in active fixed income and real assets, a spokeswoman at L&G told Insurance Asset Risk. "Demand for private assets from pension funds is growing as they seek higher yields in the low-return environment," she added. "Issuers are also looking to diversify their funding sources away from banks."
LGIM manages assets of £717bn ($1,024bn) as of 30 September 2015, on behalf of more than 3,000 clients.