Aviva Investors has revealed it intends to expand its business into what it calls "real assets" after restructuring itself.
The company announced it has effectively merged the business units that invest in direct real estate, infrastructure and private debt into one £37bn business.
This business will be led by Mark Versey, who was previously head of the institutional business at Aviva, and who will become chief investment officer for real assets.
Aviva Investors said demand for real assets from both institutional and advised clients has prompted the restructure and the company said it intended to expand more into this area of the market.
Euan Munro, chief executive of Aviva Investors, said: "Integrating our real asset capabilities into a single platform makes sense for our clients and our business.
"By focusing on our existing origination strengths in Europe and building out our product and global distribution capabilities, I am confident that we will establish Aviva Investors as a market-leading real assets platform. This is a key priority for our business.
"Mark’s promotion is richly deserved. Since joining us in 2014, he has helped transform the scale and breadth of our institutional solutions offering, and was the obvious choice to lead our real assets business."
Alongside this reshuffle, Aviva has sold its real estate multi-manager business for institutional investors to LaSalle.
david.thorpe@ft.com
