London-based fixed-income specialist BlueBay Asset Management has lost the cohead of its distressed debt funds, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Gina Germano, one the company’s star portfolio managers, was previously one of its most prominent traders as head of its flagship European high yield bond trading business.
Germano announced her intention to depart “out of the blue” in April, according to the Times, which attributes its information to “people with knowledge of the situation.” She could not be convinced to stay on, these people told the London-based newspaper, though she has not left to join a rival.
BlueBay said Germano resigned to spend more time with her family, according to the Times report.
The hedge fund manager was founded in 2001 by Hugh Willis and Mark Poole, who previously coheaded JPMorgan’s European credit arbitrage operations. The venture was backed by Barclays Capital and Japan’s Shinsei Bank, which each took a 25% stake in the company. Germano was one of the architects of BlueBay’s rapid rise since its listing in 2006, according to the Times. Assets at the group have more than doubled over the past four years.
BlueBay’s high yield funds, which Germano formerly ran, currently manage more than $6 billion.
