Ignis Asset Management, the fund manager owned by insurer Phoenix Group, has recruited a well-known liability-driven investment specialist from BlackRock and an institutional marketer from Deutsche Asset Management, as competition hots up among managers keen to break into the LDI market.

Jo Howley has worked in fixed-income at BlackRock and its predecessor firm Barclays Global Investors since 1997, as a portfolio manager and then as a product specialist, a more marketing-oriented role. She joins Ignis today.