Former First State manager Glen Finegan is to join Henderson Global Investors as its head of emerging market equities in January.
Mr Finegan went on sabbatical from First State in October last year and the company later revealed in August he would not return to the business.
Mr Finegan will report to Graham Kitchen, head of equities, and will have responsibility for managing the £1bn global emerging market equities franchise based in the UK.
Mr Finegan co-managed the First State Global Emerging Markets fund and the £37m First State Worldwide Equity funds, both with Jonathan Asante, and was involved on other mandates.
The group said as part of the review of the emerging markets business, Chris Palmer will leave Henderson. The manager joined the business when it acquired Gartmore in 2011 and was director of emerging market equities.
Mr Kitchen said Mr Finegan’s “proven ability to help raise assets will be invaluable” as it looks to grow assets it manages in the asset class.
Mr Finegan said his decision to join Henderson “was based on the collective belief that the global emerging markets sector forms an intrinsic part of the group’s future business strategy”.
Since Mr Palmer took on his Henderson Emerging Markets Opportunities fund in June 2006, the manager has returned nearly 70.4 per cent - less than the peer group average of 91.5 per cent in the IMA Global Emerging Markets sector and the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets index’s 104 per cent, according to data from FE Analytics.
