The emerging markets debt team is set to exit MainFirst at the end of October.
A spokesperson of the firm confirmed the initial report by Fundview.de to Citywire Selector.
Thomas Rutz, emerging markets debt fund manager and CEO of MainFirst Switzerland, as well as portfolio managers Dorothea Fröhlich, Tanja Kusterer and Dimitros Nteventzis will be leaving the asset manager.
Rutz, a former Citywire Selector Star Manager subject, has been with the firm since 2012 and is based in Zuirch. Prior to his time with the asset manager he worked Clariden Leu, ABB Capital B.V. Amsterdam and UBS.
A spokesperson for the firm said MainFirst recently expanded the team with two fixed income experts, Roman Kostal and Astrid Vogler.
They will closely collaborate with the existing team to ensure a seamless transition. MainFirst is already in talks with highly qualified candidates to fill Rutz’s position.
Roman Kostal, who has more than 20 years of experience as a fund manager, is already responsible for the management of various MainFirst emerging markets mandates. He joined the firm in 2019 from Eaton Vance. Meanwhile, Vogler has managed global fixed income products for more than 30 years.
The asset manager said the two emerging markets debt funds are very popular with clients and the firm will continue to expand the existing emerging markets offering and integrate ESG factors to an even greater extent.
The MainFirst EM Credit Opportunities fund had €325m in assets under management, while MainFirst Emerging Markets Corporate Bond fund had €460m at the end of July.
The Corporate Bond fund returned 22.2% in US dollar terms over the three years to the end of July 2021. While the average manager in the Bonds – Emerging Markets Global Corporates sector returned 20.3% over the same timeframe.
Equity fund merger
The asset manager has also confirmed that it merged the MainFirst – Contrarian Opportunities fund was merged with the MainFirst – Absolute Return Multi Asset fund.
The Contrarian Opportunities fund was managed by the team of Björn Esser, Christian Schuetz and Timo Heuber. The firm couldn’t comment on the employment relationship with the fund managers.
The investment strategy of the MainFirst – Contrarian Opportunities fund was purely quantitatively-driven.
MainFirst said the fund faced a challenging market situation in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and failed to maintain the previously encouraging inflows as a result.
