Thornburg Investment Management has opened a London office to enhance its global distribution capabilities, its first outside the US.

The firm has also appointed Chris Elsmark and Karim Elfar to the newly-created positions of joint managing directors to head up the new London office.

They will report to Peter Trevisani, Thornburg’s head of global distribution and president of Thornburg Global Investment, the firm's Irish-domiciled UCITS range of funds.

Elsmark and Elfar will have primary responsibility for developing and leading the firm’s franchise outside the US.

Elsmark joins from Copthall Partners, where he served as senior advisor to various investment management firms. He has held senior leadership positions at Scottish Widows Investment Partnerships, BNP Paribas Investment Partners, T Rowe Price Group and JP Morgan Asset Management. 

Elfar was formerly a managing director and head of international for Davis Advisors, an employee-owned investment firm managing $48 million in assets. Prior to joining Davis, he worked for Merrill Lynch, based in Miami, New York and London.

At 31 March 2013, Thornburg Investment Management had $87 billion in assets under management. The firm's UCITS funds include the Global Opportunities Fund, the Global Equity Income Fund, the Investment Income Builder Fund, and the Global Equity ex-US Fund.