Former Schroders head of fixed income, Stuart Dear, has taken up a new role after leaving the asset manager earlier this year after almost 12 years.
Dear left the firm in May when the business reshuffled its asset management divisions and merged the fixed income and multi-asset divisions.
This saw the two teams come together under a combined investment capability to improve the alignment of the firm’s strategies with the evolving needs of clients.
At the time, the firm said: “Schroders is optimistic about the outlook for these asset classes and remains committed to delivering active fixed income and multi-asset solutions to our clients in Australia and New Zealand. These changes seek to ensure we are making the best use of our local resources and signify our strong commitment to providing leading investment solutions tailored to our clients’ needs.”
The move saw Dear depart and meant Sebastian Mullins moved from head of multi-asset into leading the combined team as head of multi-asset and fixed income, while Kellie Wood became head of fixed income.
Since leaving, Dear has since taken up a role as senior portfolio manager and director at Peak Investment Partners.
The firm confirmed he joined on 1 October, and CEO Ian Wenham said his appointment “represents a strategic hire, consistent with supporting current growth and development” at the business.
The need to support the firm’s growth as its funds under management approach $1 billion, he said, means Dear’s appointment will bring skills, experience and leadership to the company.
Writing on LinkedIn, Dear said: “I’m delighted to share that I’ve joined Peak Investment Partners as a senior portfolio manager and director. Peak is a privately owned business that manages tailored portfolios of mostly domestic and international equities.
“I look forward to working with the team at Peak and alongside our future and existing clients.”
Prior to joining Schroders in 2012, Dear spent three years at abrdn as senior portfolio manager and 10 years at Credit Suisse as an investment manager and analyst.
Peak, which was founded in 2003, describes itself as a boutique asset manager offering personalised investment portfolios and expert advice. It runs both individually managed portfolios and four separately managed accounts to suit different investor needs – Peak Smaller Companies, Peak Income, Peak Industrial Growth and Peak Australian High Growth.
