Challenger's head of fixed income Paul van Ryn has left the company after eight years with the firm.
van Ryn was responsible for management of the High Yield Fund.
The firm has appointed portfolio manager Bob Sahota to replace van Ryn as head of fixed income.
Sahota has worked at Challenger for more than four years as portfolio manager for the fixed income portfolios. He has also worked at global bond manager Pimco as a credit analyst and as a portfolio manager in AMP's fixed income team.
"Clearly 2008 and 2009 has been a difficult time for most high yield funds and the fixed income team has tirelessly focused on preserving unitholder value over this period. To that point, we appreciate Paul's service to Challenger and wish him all the best in his future endeavours," a Challenger statement said.
The Challenger High Yield Fund posted a -26.19 per cent return for the year ending January 2009 compared with the UBS Composite Index benchmark of 15.17 per cent, according to research from Zenith Investment Partners.
