Gramercy has hired Jeffrey Grills and Gunter Heiland to establish investment management strategies focused on emerging markets debt.
Grills and Heiland join Gramercy from JP Morgan Asset Management, where they served as portfolio managers and co-heads of the emerging markets debt group.
Gramercy, a dedicated emerging markets investment manager, is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut and was founded in 1998. Today the firm manages over USD2.6bn in a number of emerging markets investment strategies.
On 1 July the new team will launch three emerging markets debt strategies: emerging markets US dollar sovereign debt, emerging markets local currency sovereign debt, and emerging markets corporate debt.
Grills and Heiland will be collaborating with Robert Rauch, a Gramercy partner and head of research, to co-manage the emerging markets corporate debt strategy.
Robert Koenigsberger, founder and chief investment officer of Gramercy, says: "We are delighted that Jeff and Gunter have joined Gramercy as it accelerates our ability to offer clients a complete suite of emerging markets investment strategies on a single platform. Gramercy now has a significant presence in the performing sovereign and corporate debt markets that complements our current capabilities in the distressed debt areas of emerging markets, where we have been the market leader for over 12 years. We are uniquely positioned to enable our clients to seamlessly asset allocate across all emerging markets debt, spanning performing and distressed credits."
Prior to joining Gramercy, Grills was employed at JP Morgan since 1993 and has over 16 years of investment experience. Within JP Morgan Asset Management, his primary responsibilities included overseeing all investment functions for the emerging markets debt team and focusing on risk management and portfolio construction.
Mr. Heiland was employed at JP Morgan since 1997 and has over 20 years of investment experience. Along with Grills, Heiland managed all investment functions for the emerging markets debt team at JP Morgan Asset Management and focused on trading and implementation. Heiland began his career at Salomon Brothers.
"Gramercy’s singular commitment to emerging markets investing is extremely compelling to us," says Grills. "We want to be part of a group whose expertise complements our team and understands the opportunities to invest as we do."
