Baring Asset Management has strengthened its emerging market debt team with the hire of Thomas Kwan from ICBC Credit Suisse as its first head of Asian debt.

Kwan joins Baring in Hong Kong and will manage the firm’s Asian debt investments, where the firm sees a significant investment opportunity in the growth of Asian economies – with Asian bonds offering an attractive source of risk adjusted returns with the appreciation of Asian currencies expected to be a significant source of capital appreciation.

“We have conviction that Asian debt offers the potential for very attractive risk-adjusted returns and expect demand for this type of product to grow as clients look to invest in Asian local currency debt for its strong diversification benefits. Combined with Barings existing strong emerging market capability we believe there is a compelling investment case for clients,” commented Thanasis Petronikolos, head of emerging market debt at Barings.

At ICBC Credit Suisse in Beijing, Kwan was responsible for global macro research and asset allocation strategy. He also managed the firm's absolute return global fixed income, currencies and asset allocation products.