Friends Life launches £6bn asset management business

by Gill Montia

Story link: Friends Life launches £6bn asset management business

Friends Life has launched Friends Life Investments (FLI), a new in-house asset management business with £6 billion of assets under management.

The launch, which has come ahead of schedule, will enable the group to leverage its existing investment capability, investment strategy and asset liability management while supporting the growth of core product areas, such as annuities.

The initial focus for FLI, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of Friends, will be to manage existing fixed-income assets in respect of annuity liabilities, shareholder funds and assets backing other non-profit liabilities.

FLI aims to capture additional assets under management by the end of this year and further investment classes will be considered as the business grows.

So far, the unit has built a team of 15, having recruited the award winning fixed-income portfolio management team from Liverpool Victoria Asset Management, in January.

Further recruitment is anticipated in the coming months with management intending to grow the team to around 20 by the end of 2012.