New asset management business to be called Ignis

The newly-created £75bn asset management business comprised of Resolution Asset Management and Axial Investment Management is to be called Ignis Asset Management.

Ignis - Latin for fire, burn or spark - will come into force in November as the umbrella brand for the group's fund management operations. Resolution Asset Management and its subsidiaries (excluding its joint ventures) will adopt the new brand at launch while Axial, the group's asset liability and alternatives specialist, will initially retain its own identity.

The creation of Ignis Asset Management does not signal a significant change of direction for either underlying business. Resolution Asset Management will continue with the same core strategy it has successfully followed for the past four years. This strategy - to provide best-in-breed investment management propositions for its retail, third-party institutional and life company clients - will benefit from increased investment to enable the business to develop more leading-edge products, launch new joint venture boutiques, bolster the existing fund management desks and enhance its distribution capability.

Axial will continue to focus on its best in class asset liability matching capabilities. Drawing on this expertise the two entities will work together to develop products for the third party market which will be distributed through the UK retail, UK institutional and international channels by a single Ignis Asset Management sales and marketing function. The business believes that Axial's leading expertise in alternatives, including hedge fund of funds, will add a powerful extra dimension to the group's sales proposition.

Gavin Stewart, formerly chief executive of Resolution Asset Management, is chief executive of Ignis Asset Management, with a remit to significantly grow the business.

Stewart says: "The new group will be a very powerful proposition and we believe Ignis Asset Management is the name that best encapsulates its ethos, dynamism and future ambitions. The announcement of the brand marks a very exciting time for the group as we look to build on the proven skills of Resolution Asset Management and Axial to create a leading provider of asset/liability and investment management services."