Itau Asset Management, which oversees about 1 trillion reais ($173 billion), is starting a new emerging-market equity desk out of Miami.

The money manager, one of Brazil's biggest, hired Jamie Rice to run the desk, the firm said in a statement Monday. Rice worked at Wellington Management for more than 18 years before leaving last year, and also had stints with Oppenheimer & Co. and SG Cowen. He started at Itau Asset this month, according to the firm.