Based in London, Porter will become a member of Axa IM’s management board, reporting to chief executive Andrea Rossi.
At Barclays, he was managing director and global head of portfolio and liquidity management and sat on the bank’s management committee.
He joined Barclays in 1998 from Summit Capital Advisers where he was chief economist and principal where he devised strategies for fixed income and currency based hedge fund.
His early career saw Porter spend a decade at the World Bank as senior economist and latter chief investment officer running a $20bn global bond portfolio.
Porter will not be running any funds, focusing on leading the team, which includes corporate and strategic bond fund manager Nick Hayes and high yield manager James Gledhill, both of whom worked with Zemek at New Star Asset Management.
Rossi said Porter would bring a strong understanding of the challenges facing Axa IM’s clients and extensive experience across the fixed income space.
Porter said: “I am pleased and excited to be joining Axa IM. I am inheriting a very strong and diversified fixed income business and my goal will be to work with this hugely talented and experienced team to continue to grow our third party assets under management through the same investment approach and philosophy, compounding current income and seeking to avoid principal loss through fundamental credit analysis and macroeconomic research.”
