US/UK- Houston’s Police Officer pension scheme has appointed the specialist investment manager Ashmore IM to run a $60m (e63m) emerging market debt mandate.

Mark Coombs, managing director of Ashmore, said: “we are seeing much more demand from pension funds and other institutional investors across north America and elsewhere.

“Emerging market debt offers strong diversification for investors, is counter cyclical unlike other credit markets driven by the business cycle and has, over the last three years, been less volatile than US, European or any other equity market.”

Low correlation with other major asset classes also reduces portfolio volatility.

At the end of last year the San Francisco employees’ retirement system awarded Ashmore a $75m emerging market debt mandate.

Ashmore is a specialist active, value manager focusing on credit and emerging markets. It was launched ten years ago by the current team who bought out the business from ANZ Investment Bank in 1999.