Thom Bentley, director for institutional marketing at Muzinich, explained that the firm was hoping to expand its business into the Netherlands, the Nordic region and possibly even further into Europe.

He said: “It’s an exciting time for us, and we really want to develop the business further in Europe. There are a lot of opportunities in the Netherlands.”

When asked how many

new members could join the sales team, Mr Bentley would not commit to an exact number. He did say it could be as many as three people, but this would depend on many different factors.

The firm, which has $5bn (€3.2bn) in assets under management, specialises in high-yield corporate bond management for institutional investors. It has offices in New York, London, Paris and Cologne, with a total of 45 employees. Its clients are in Europe and the US.

Founder and chief executive officer of the firm, George Muzinich, explained that credit products have been one of the best asset classes over the past five years, depending on a company’s fundamentals.

He said: “We look at companies that are in good shape with good fundamentals. In many areas that is still the case. The current crisis was one caused by not sufficiently transparent financials who were binging on leverage, not industrials.

“There is a built-in inefficiency in investment-grade bonds versus non-investment-grade. There is an emotional distinction between these bonds that is not based on reality.”

This has been a long-held belief of Mr Muzinich’s, and, in his opinion, the US has a difficult balancing act to perform if it is to sort out the problem. In his mind, choices will have to be made between inflation and employment, with employment ultimately winning out.

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