Carlos de Leon has joined Allianz RCM as a portfolio manager ahead of the launch of its Brazil fund in October.
De Leon, a Latin American specialist, is likely to be co-manager of the fund with Michael Konstantinov, the chief investment officer of GEM. He will be responsible for conducting and generating investment ideas for the GEM team from his base in London.
De Leon joins from Harbert Management Corporation where he was an analyst on its Emerging Markets Absolute Return fund. He has 16 years of experience researching Latin American and EM companies, and has previously worked for Barings and Deutsche Bank.
Nick Smith, the managing director of Allianz Global Investors Europe, says the hire comes as investors are showing greater interest in Latin America funds.
The group's Brazil Oeic will focus on commodities and domestic consumer plays, with the flexibility to invest up to 30% of assets into Latin American companies that generate a significant proportion of their sales and earnings from Brazil.
The GEM team also runs the Allianz RCM BRIC Stars fund, lead managed by Konstantinov, which has £800m under management. Over three years to 25 August the fund has delivered a return of 16.5% against a Specialist sector average gain of 5.1% and a benchmark fall of 1%.
