William Blair Investment Management has hired the former head of emerging markets debt at NN Investment Partners, who left along with two members of his team following a disagreement over the Dutch fund manager’s environmental, social and governance strategy.

Marcelo Assalin will join William Blair in a similar role, alongside his colleagues at NNIP Marco Ruijer and Lewis Jones, the US firm said in a November 15 statement. They will join in the first quarter of 2020 and form a new dedicated emerging-market debt team there.