Leaviss joined M&G in 1997, evolving the firm’s fixed-income team from a four-person unit into a global powerhouse with 40 specialists across London, Chicago, Singapore, and Paris. Beyond his formal role as Chief Investment Officer, he cultivated a unique voice through his 'Bond Vigilantes' blog and the 'Uncle Jim’s World of Bonds' podcast. He was known for explaining macroeconomic trends through unconventional metaphors, using everything from the gold-hoarding habits of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Smaug to the shrinking size of snack food packets to illustrate the realities of inflation and government debt.
Jim Leaviss, the bond market's unlikely storyteller, dies at 55
A former Bank of England official who transformed the dry world of fixed-income trading into a vibrant, accessible narrative, Jim Leaviss has died at 55. As the architect of M&G Investments' global bond operation, he became a fixture in the City of London by humanizing the complex mechanics of fiscal policy.
His colleagues remember him as a mentor who possessed a rare ability to bridge the gap between technical expertise and public discourse. Stefan Isaacs, co-head of macro credit at M&G, described him as a formative leader who made bond markets engaging for a wider audience. After leaving M&G in 2024 to pursue the study of art history, Leaviss left behind a legacy of fiscal analysis that prioritized clarity and humor. The firm has opened a virtual book of condolences, with the family requesting that any memorial contributions be directed to Cancer Research UK.
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