Mediolanum International Funds Limited has appointed Stephen Tapley as deputy head of high yield, strengthening the Dublin-based investment manager's fixed income capabilities as it expands its internally managed platform. Tapley, who spent 14 years as a senior fund manager for leveraged finance at Royal London Asset Management, will join a 72-strong investment team and contribute to the development and oversight of Mediolanum's internally managed high-yield strategies. The appointment comes four months after Mediolanum named Martin Reeves as head of high yield fixed income, a newly created senior role filled by the former global head of high yield investments at Legal & General.
Martin Reeves, the newly appointed head of high yield fixed income at Mediolanum, praised the hire, saying Tapley is one of the most impressive investors in global and European high yield and that the appointment underlines the firm's commitment to building a high-yield platform with depth and experience. According to Reeves, Tapley brings a strong track record across multiple credit cycles and will be pivotal in strengthening Mediolanum's internally managed capabilities. The back-to-back hires suggest a deliberate strategy to bolster the firm's fixed income franchise. Tapley will report to Reeves, who himself reports to Daniel Loughney, head of fixed income.
Tapley brings nearly two decades of experience in sub-investment grade credit markets. Beyond his 14 years at Royal London Asset Management, where he helped launch the Global High Yield strategy in 2013 and co-managed it since inception, he held analyst roles as a high yield analyst at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and as an investment analyst at Gulf International Bank. The London-based manager holds a CFA charter and an MSc in Financial and Industrial Mathematics from Dublin City University. His track record managing the Royal London Global High Yield strategy places him among the elite of credit practitioners, having outperformed peer composites across multiple market cycles including rising, falling and overall market conditions.
Mediolanum International Funds manages over 76.9 billion euros in assets under management as of December 2025 across more than 70 funds and serves over 2 million clients of the broader Mediolanum Group through its network of advisors spanning Italy, Spain and Germany. MIFL is the investment management arm of the Milan-listed Banca Mediolanum S.p.A., a diversified financial services conglomerate with insurance, banking and asset management operations. The firm is recognized as the leading asset manager in EMEA for sub-advisory mandates within the banking distribution channel and maintains a focus on internally managed strategies alongside its multi-manager platform.
Tapley's appointment signals that Mediolanum is moving aggressively to build out high-yield management capabilities at a time when credit spreads remain compressed and differentiated security selection increasingly matters. The firm is allocating senior talent from marquee franchises like Royal London and Legal & General, suggesting it views high yield as a strategically important growth area within its fixed income business. With Reeves, a veteran of 13 years building LGIM's high-yield platform from the ground up, now leading the charge and Tapley providing deep expertise in both European and global high-yield markets, Mediolanum appears to be positioning itself to compete more aggressively in an asset class where active management, credit discipline and risk management can generate alpha.
