Manulife Asset Management appoints new Singapore head of fixed income

MANULIFE Asset Management on Friday announced the appointment of Murray Collis as managing director, head of fixed income, Singapore. He assumed the role in the past week.

The global asset management arm of Manulife said Mr Collis has dual reporting lines - to Endre Pedersen, chief investment officer, fixed income, Asia (ex-Japan); and Wendy Lim, chief executive officer, Manulife Asset Management (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

The industry veteran's primary duties are to lead all of the Singapore-based fixed income strategies and have oversight of a local team of portfolio managers and credit analysts.

Mr Pedersen welcomed the appointment, noting that Singapore is one of the leading fixed income centres in Asia.

"As the slow growth and low interest rate environment looks to remain for a period of time, we continue to be committed to identifying investment solutions in the Singapore and Asian fixed income space. With Murray's wealth of experience and the strong capabilities from our investment professionals on the ground, we are well poised for capturing future opportunities and growth."

Mr Collis will also contribute to the pan-Asian fixed income team in the management of pan-Asian strategies such as the Asia Total Return and Asian Bond Absolute Return strategies.

He had joined Manulife Asset Management with over 20 years of industry experience, 16 of which were in portfolio management in markets including London, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Most recently, Mr Collis was overseeing Asian fixed income with Standish Mellon Asset Management, based in Singapore. Before that, he spent 16 years with First State Investments covering currencies, global bonds and credit.