MOVES-Amia Capital hires ex-PIMCO executive to bolster emerging markets team, says source

By Nell Mackenzie

LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Hedge fund, Amia Capital, has hired ex-PIMCO senior portfolio manager Nikolas Skouloudis to focus on emerging markets credit in London, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The appointment is aimed at strengthening the $1.2 billion firm's Amia Capital Macro Fund and its multi-asset trading desk that focuses on emerging and developed markets.

Macro hedge funds this year have seized on the dispersion between sovereign bonds and currencies globally. This cohort of hedge funds returned a 0.79% return on investment in 2024, according to the HFRU Macro Index.

Amia Capital posted a 13.7% return for last year, beating the wider group, said the source, asking not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

Skouloudis will join as a portfolio manager and focus on emerging markets credit. He was previously a senior portfolio manager at bond fund PIMCO, where he worked for the last 12 years in emerging markets, sovereign and corporate debt.

Before PIMCO, Skouloudis worked for Morgan Stanley, the source said.

Amia Capital also has hired Jade Vogli as a portfolio manager to trade sovereign bonds in developed markets, according to the source.

She was previously a vice-president and portfolio manager and trader covering fixed income at insurance company, Swiss Re. Vogli spent more than five years at Swiss Re and previously worked at QCM, the source said.

Vogli and Skouloudis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and Barbara Lewis)

((Nell.Mackenzie@thomsonreuters.com;))