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LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager has moved recently to a long position in Italian bonds, deputy chief investment officer for fixed income said on Tuesday.
Scott Thiel told reporters the fund had held a short position on Italian bonds earlier this year, then shifted to neutral and then more recently had gone long on the market.
He earlier said Italian bonds were attractively valued compared to southern European peers.
Thiel also said he had recently turned more "positive" on the British pound, seeing its near-term direction as higher.
"It does appear that the Brexit situation has become more positive." he said, adding that a level of $1.35 was "not out of the question" should it appear that Britain would reach agreement on exiting the European Union next March with a trade deal in place.
Sterling currently trades around $1.31
(Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe, writing by Sujata Rao)