Italy’s largest asset manager is splitting in two in a revamp aimed at emphasising its specialisations.

Generali Investments, the asset management business owned by Italy’s biggest insurance company, Assicurazioni Generali, yesterday said it had separated into Generali Insurance Asset Management (GIAM) and Generali Investments Partners (GIP). Support functions for both entities are provided by Generali Investments Holding (GIH), the company announced.

GIAM will build on its experience of managing the assets of the Generali group, insurance companies and pension funds, offering liability driven investment (LDI) products and services. It is led up by Santo Borsellino, previously chief executive of Generali Investments Europe.

Meanwhile GIP is designed to be the asset manager’s “growth engine”, aiming to expand the number of third party clients and its assets under management.

“This objective will be achieved through an innovative investment offering and skilled distribution capabilities,” the company said.

Portfolio management at GIP would be based on the development of unconstrained and distinctive investment strategies, “leveraging on both internal and external expertise, the latter through the acquisition of specialised investment boutiques”, the company said.

Last month, Generali backed the launch of Aperture Investors , an equity and credit manager with a self-described “disruptive” fee structure.

Carlo Trabattoni has been appointed chief executive of GIP. He joined last year from Schroders, where he was head of retail sales for Europe.

GIH, meanwhile, will continue to be led by its current chief executive Dominique Clair.

In the statement, the Trieste-headquartered firm said: “The goal of this change is to further improve Generali Investments’ ability to align with the needs of investors, and to help clients achieve their investment objectives.”

It said specialisation, efficiency and innovation were important in the financial sector at a time of “continuous evolution” both in the market and the regulatory framework.

“With a business model based on specialisation, where each of the companies operates in clearly defined areas of competence, Generali Investments aims to best respond to different clients’ needs with dedicated skills, experienced professionals and advanced technological tools,” the company said.

Generali ran €8.5bn in European institutional assets at the end of 2017, according to IPE’s Top 400 Asset Managers survey. The company ranked 36th in terms of global assets under management with €463bn. 

Topics

Related Companies