M&G Optimal Income Class I - Accumulation (GBP)

Richard Woolnough joined M&G in January 2004 and is fund manager of the M&G Optimal Income Fund, the M&G Corporate Bond Fund and the M&G Strategic Corporate Bond Fund, three of the company's flagship fixed interest funds. Richard began his career at Lloyds Merchant Bank in 1985, moving to Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali two years later, followed by SG Warburg. In 1995, he became a fund manager at Old Mutual. Richard graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc in economics.

Stefan Isaacs started at M&G in 2001 and was promoted to corporate bond dealer specialising in high yield bonds and euro denominated credit. He joined the fund management team in 2006 as an assistant fund manager covering high yield and European investment grade for M&G's fixed interest fund range. He was appointed fund manager of the M&G European Corporate Bond Fund in April 2007 and the M&G High Yield Corporate Bond Fund in October 2010. Stefan graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a degree in international business and French. James Tomlins joined M&G in 2011 and was appointed fund manager of the M&G European High Yield Bond Fund later that year. In January 2014, he became co-manager of the M&G High Yield Corporate Bond Fund after two years being deputy manager on the fund. James is a specialist in high yield credit with more than 10 years' experience in this sector. He was previously an analyst and then a fund manager at Cazenove Capital Management. Before Cazenove, James was at KBC Alternative Investment Management and in the three years prior to that worked at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. James is a CFA charterholder. He holds an MA in history and PgDip in economics from the University of Cambridge.