Pearl launches asset management company
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Pearl Group is launching an asset management company to manage its £27.1bn funds called Axial Investment Management.
Pearl says the company has been launched in a bid to "radically improve" the management of its closed book of life insurance funds.
The new company is part of the Pearl Group which was acquired by Sun Capital and TDR in April 2005 and it will be headed up by Jan Straatman who joins from ABP Investments.
Axial will special in the management of insurance assets and liabilities and Pearl claims it is the first fully integrated risk, liability and asset manager in the insurance industry.
Pearl Group director Hugh Osmond says: “Our policyholder proposition has always been that there is no better way to add value to long-term savings policies than by maximising risk-adjusted returns. Using the proven skills of Jan Straatman and his team, Axial is able to apply new skills and techniques to closed life books to improve the prospects for Pearl Group policyholders.”
Axial Investment Management CEO Jan Straatman says: “We are bringing something new to the market. Simply, we analyse the shape of an insurance fund’s liabilities at new and microscopic levels of detail. Then, on the basis of this analysis, we create the optimal risk management and investment strategy.”
Other senior management at Axial Investment Management include chief financial officer John Cusins, who has previously held positions at UBS and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein where he was managing director of capital markets.
Chief operating officer Paul Dixon was previously managing director head of equity derivatives trading at Merrill Lynch Europe.
The £27.1bn funds in the Pearl Group’s four life companies are split into Pearl and National Provident Life with £19.8bn, London Life with £2.5bn and NPI Limited with £4.8bn.
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