Mike Riddell (pictured) joined Allianz GI in October 2015.
Allianz Global Investors portfolio manager and head of the macro unconstrained team Mike Riddell is set to leave the firm in July after nearly ten years to join Fidelity International.
Once he joins Fidelity in August, he will become the lead portfolio manager for the firm's strategic and total return bond strategies, with current lead manager Tim Foster assuming co-portfolio management responsibilities.
The changes will have an effective date of 2 January 2025 at the latest, once contractual obligations have been fulfilled. Based in London, Riddell will report to Rosie McMellin, director of portfolio management for fixed income.
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"I am greatly looking forward to joining Fidelity's fixed income team and being able to draw on a wealth of skill and expertise across the 100-strong team," said Riddell.
"I want to be able to take full advantage of Fidelity's strength and depth to add further rigor to the investment process, portfolio construction and especially risk management and oversight, which should all help to benefit client outcomes."
At Allianz GI, Riddell is lead portfolio manager of the £1.2bn Gilt Yield, £140m Index-Linked Gilt and £18m UK Government Bond strategies, and co-lead manager of the firm's flagship £924m Strategic Bond fund.
A spokesperson for Allianz GI said that from June, the strategies run by Riddell will be managed by the firm's global markets team, led by core fixed income CIO Julian Le Beron, to whom he reported.
The Allianz Sterling Bond fund has underperformed the IA Sterling Strategic Bond sector over a one, three and five-year period, according to FE fundinfo. In the last three years, the strategy is down 29.7%, while the sector has lost 3.3% over the period.
Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, said that after a long period of underperformance on the Strategic Bond fund, Riddell's exit is an "opportunity to reposition the strategy under a promising incoming team".
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"We are supporters of Allianz as a house," he said. "We remain undecided on whether or not to sell and maintain a watching brief."
Riddell joined Allianz GI in 2015 as a senior portfolio manager after 12 years at M&G, where he ran a raft of bond portfolios, including the M&G Gilt & Fixed Interest and Index-Linked Bond funds. Prior to that, he was an assistant portfolio manager at Premier Asset Management.
His departure marks the second high-profile exit from the firm in recent months. Thorsten Winkelmann, CIO for growth equity portfolios, departed at the end of last year alongside four portfolio managers to join AllianceBernstein.
