Santander has poached Azim Meghji from HSBC Global Asset Management to work as head of credit for its £977 million Sterling Corporate Bond Fund.

Meghji was responsible for all of HSBC’s credit investment funds in London, including sterling, US and global credit products for both the retail and institutional markets.

Among the funds Meghji, who has ten years’ experience in the fund management industry, managed was HSBC’s flagship $1.3 billion Global High Income Fund.

John Bearman, CIO of Santander Asset Management UK, said, ‘I am delighted to welcome Azim to Santander Asset Management UK as head of credit.

‘His experience and expertise will further strengthen our team and allow us to develop our offering in the fixed interest arena.

‘Over the last three years, we have invested significantly in our fixed income, equity, multi-manager and research capabilities, and Azim’s recruitment is another major step in our development,’ he added.

The Santander Sterling Corporate Bond Fund, which was launched in July 2009, has been consistently outperforming the benchmark since its inception, with its advantage widening considerably in the past three months.

As of Monday 17 October 2011, the fund has made a total return of over 26 per cent since July 2009, an advantage of 4 per cent over the benchmark, while it is ranked 34th out of the 117 funds in the sector over the last year based on total return.

Prior to joining HSBC, Meghji, who has a degree in Economics and is a CFA charterholder, worked at Deutsche Bank in the structured credit team.