Barings to merge away Harte’s AR Global Bond trust

Barings is merging Colin Harte’s Absolute Return Global Bond trust into Andrew Cole’s £90m Multi Asset fund.

Harte is in discussions with Barings over his future at the firm. Following the merger, he will be left managing just one fund - the £211m Baring Global Bond trust.

"It has also become clear that a wider, multi asset opportunity set offers a better environment in which to deliver strong cash plus performance for our clients," the group said.

"This is why we are proposing to merge the Absolute Return Global Bond trust into our Multi Asset fund.

"We have entered a consultation period with Colin Harte."

Dagmar Dvorak, co-manager of the Global Bond trust, has assumed responsibility for the fund during the consultation period.

The £74m Absolute Return Global Bond fund has struggled to generate a positive return over the past three years.

The fund has fallen 0.7% over three years to 9 January, while posting a fall of 8.9% over the past year, according to Morningstar.

Meanwhile, Global Bond is in the second quartile of the IMA Global Bond sector over one and three years.

The fund has returned 18.8% on a three-view, beating the sector average of 17.6%, while over the past year it has posted a gain of 4.5% compared to the peer group's average 1.4%.

Harte has served more than a decade at Baring Asset Management, joining in 2000 from Norwich Union, where he was head of fixed income.

Previously Harte held a role at Gartmore Investment Management.