Schroders, the UK-based investment manager, has beefed up its fixed income team with four new hires in a bid to develop its skills in the emerging market debt relative return sector.

James Barrineau has joined the firm’s New York office as head of Latin American fixed income and co-head of emerging market debt relative return, along with Rajeev de Mello, head of Asian fixed income, and Fernando Grisales as a senior portfolio manager and Alec Moseley as a senior portfolio manager and sovereign research analyst. Grisales and Moseley will report to Barrineau, who in turn will report to Karl Dasher, global head of fixed income.

The trio was latterly at Ice Canyon, a California-based global investment management firm specialising in emerging markets and global credit. Before that, they worked for Alliance Bernstein, where they shared responsibility for managing $15 billion in assets.

The investment firm has also announced that Chris Tackney will join next month as senior portfolio manager in the emerging market corporate bond segment. Tackney previously worked for BlackRock and more recently was credit trader at Credit Suisse. In his new role, he will report to Wes Sparks, US fixed income chief at Schroders.

Dasher said in a statement that the emerging market relative return sector is as a long-term strategic objective for Schroders’ fixed income business. “Investors are increasingly seeking benchmark comparable fixed income strategies that take advantage of the emerging market growth story as the developed world continues to struggle with volatility and an uncertain outlook,” he said.

Schroders' fixed income team comprises nearly 100 investment professionals globally and manages around £41 billion ($66.5 billion) at the end of March. The firm’s emerging market debt absolute return team managed around £4.5 billion at the end of last year.