UK-based Investec Asset Management has appointed Leslie Lipschitz - former International Monetary Fund director - as visiting strategist to work with its fixed income and multi-asset teams.

Based in Cape Town, Lipschitz will assist the two teams in formulating macroeconomic and thematic views, the firm said.

Lipschitz spent 40 years at the IMF, assuming senior positions within the Asia-Pacific, African and European departments, as well as within the policy development and review department.

Investec Asset Management was established in 1991 and manages approximately $88 billion in assets, as at the end of December 2011.