BNP Paribas Investment Partners Australia chief executive Robert Harrison said the decision to open a fixed-income shop was largely based on increased demand for defensive assets.
The decision was facilitated by the availability of Mallett, Harrison said.
"Fixed income is the only major asset class that we don't play in and we found the timely availability of an excellent portfolio manager, so we put the two together and decided to go down that road."
Mallett will be responsible for formulating and managing the new fixed-income products, which will be available to Australian institutional and retail investors and to BNP Paribas' offshore funds seeking exposure to Australian fixed income.
He joins from Austock Asset Management, where he held the roles of head of fixed interest and portfolio manager.
The firm is planning to launch two products: an Australian core fixed-income fund and a diversified fixed-income fund.
The diversified fund would leverage off expertise within other BNP offices, particularly the expertise in international bonds, Harrison said.
He also indicated the firm had plans to set up separately managed account (SMA) products.
"We are looking to focus on the concept of SMAs in the fixed-income space," he said.
