Barings bond stalwart Colin Harte made redundant

Mr Harte role was placed under consultation by the firm last month as it announced it was merging away the £72.9m Absolute Return Global Bond fund he managed since it launched in 2004.

“We have therefore concluded, following the consultation period around the closure of the Absolute Return Global Bond Trust, that there is no longer a position for Colin and he has therefore left the firm, with our thanks and best wishes for the future,” a spokesman said.

At the time of the consultation announcement Barings said the fund had struggled “to generate consistent and positive absolute returns”.

Mr Harte was also a co-manager on Barings’ £202m Global Bond fund with Dagmar Dvorak. That fund was taken over by Mr Dvorak on a sole manager basis when Mr Harte was placed under consultation.

The Absolute Return Global Bond fund delivered a return of 11 per cent in the five years to January 27. However, it lost 10.2 per cent over the past one year, according to Morningstar.

Global Bond has produced a top quartile return of 69.6 per cent over five years to January 27 compared with the IMA Global Bond sector’s 51.9 per cent, according to Morningstar.

Mr Harte joined the group in 2000 as a senior investment manager from Norwich Union where he was head of international fixed income. He has also previously worked at Gartmore and Worldinvest.

Barings has played down any potential concerns about staffing levels in its global bond team as a result of the redundancy, saying it is “effectively resourced”.

It said Harjeet Heer was remaining as head of the global portfolio construction group and Dagmar Dvorak, who has managed Barings’ International Bond fund for two years and been co-manager on Global Bond for a year, is also remaining.

“Dagmar Dvorak will manage the Global Bond Trust, with Harjeet Heer as backup. Dagmar has been the co-manager on the fund for the past year and has been lead manager on the Baring International Bond fund for the past two years.