NN Investment Partners (NN IP, formerly ING Investment Management) has appointed Ivan Nikolov as a Senior Portfolio Manager in the firm’s Convertible Bonds team.
Nikolov will be based in NN IP’s London office and and will report to Tarek Saber, Head of Convertible Bond strategies. His main focus will be to support the (L) Global Convertible Opportunities Fund.
Prior to joining NN IP, Nikolov was a CB investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, also in London. He previously worked at KNG Securities trading European and Asian CB’s and carried out credit research. Nikolov started his career at Pine River Capital Management where he helped managing European and Asian CB arbitrage. He has an MA (Hons) in Economics and Management from Oxford University and is a CFA charter holder.
Saber says: “ We are expanding our team in convertible bond management to accommodate the growing interest in this sector. As of April 26, the NN (L) Global Convertible Opportunities Fund successfully celebrated its third year anniversary, delivering an annualised return of 11.46 per cent during that period. Ivan’s arrival will help us to keep delivering on our robust investment performance. Our team expanding team should enable us to capitalise on the opportunities this attractive asset class can offer as we continue to grow our convertible bond capabilities for our clients.”
NN IP’s conviction is that convertible bonds are a unique asset class in the context of scarce income. By design, a convertible bond combines the merits of a corporate bond, and as such preserves Investors’ capital, and enables investors to participate in equity upside: it pays interest and redeems the invested capital like a regular bond but also gives investors the right to exchange it for a fixed number of shares of the company’s stock as it rises.
Saber says: “The strategy is managed globally with a focus on balanced convertibles to maximize convexity. The management team selects convertibles combining the attributes of solid credit fundamentals, underlying equity upside and balanced convertible profile. With Nikolov’s arrival the team is even better positioned to keep pace both with the rapid growth in this attractive asset class and the development of new business, in addition to the company’s existing credit and equity capabilities.”
