UK - Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) posted first-half pre-tax profits that quadrupled mainly due to new institutional business.

SWIP reported a first-half result of £8m (€11.5m), up from £2m for the first half of 2004.

A spokeswoman for SWIP told IPE that the result was mainly due to new cash and bond mandates from institutional investors as well as from improved performance.

New business surged 73% to £2.6bn, of which £1.9bn is due to new institutional business.

Assets under management for the full year to June 2005 rose £10.5bn, with institutional investors accounting for £2.5bn. Total asset under management amounted to £87.5bn.

Andy Frepp, head of global sales and marketing at SWIP, forecast further strong growth for the rest of the year.

Frepp said: "In the first half of this year, we began to see the fruits of expanding the range of products available to our diverse client base.”

He referred to both investment portfolios and single asset products such as the SWIP Property Trust, a UCITS III fund that invests 100% in property.

Earlier this week, SWIP announced the appointment of Corrado Amari as head of its southern European business.

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