Prudential committed to growing local fixed interest expertise

The new Head of Fixed Interest at Prudential Portfolio Managers in South Africa has been appointed from the international pool of resources belonging to parent company, London based Prudential plc.

Graham Mason, CEO of Prudential in South Africa, says after careful consideration it was decided to tap into the resources available internationally to Prudential, with the aim of growing the local talent pool.

“Instead of poaching investment talent from other South African asset managers, we have decided to continue developing new skills.”

The Head of Fixed Interest position became vacant last month when Gerhard Cruywagen left Prudential after eight years.

David Knee (pictured), currently a senior fixed interest portfolio manager at M&G, the global asset management arm of Prudential plc, will assume responsibility for the SA fixed interest division as from January next year.

Mason says Knee worked at Prudential in South Africa in 1999 and 2000, and was responsible for establishing the current fixed interest process.

“David has proven before that he is capable of growing a formidable fixed interest team. We are confident that he will do it again. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience from working in the London market for the past 15 years, which he will again transfer to our local fixed interest team over the coming years.”

Prudential’s fixed interest team will further be bolstered by the return early next year of fixed interest portfolio manager, Someshini Packirisamy, who is currently on secondment from South Africa to the fixed interest team of the London office of M&G.

Mason says the active skills transfer process between Prudential’s international operations and South Africa ensures that clients continue to benefit from Prudential’s global presence and extensive resources.

David Knee – brief CV

Knee joined the M&G Investments fixed income team in 1997 with a focus on the management of UK and global segregated institutional bond portfolios. Before joining the company, David worked for Hill Samuel Asset Management for three years as a fixed income fund manager, managing both life and pension funds for a variety of clients. These included a central bank, insurance companies and institutional and retail clients. Before this, he worked for three years as a fixed income strategist for Daiwa Europe.

David graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc in Economics and from Birkbeck College with an MSc in Economics. He is an Associate of the Institute of Investment Management and Research.