Aviva Investors shakes up investment teams in broad overhaul

LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - Aviva Investors, the fund arm of insurer Aviva (Other OTC: AIVAF - news) , on Friday announced an overhaul of its investment teams in an effort to boost performance, including the creation of several new teams.

Asset managers, under pressure from rising costs and pressure on fees, are increasingly looking for ways to both streamline costs and improve returns.

As part of the reorganisation, Aviva said it would merge its rates and emerging market debt teams into a new Multi-Asset and Macro (Shenzhen: 000533.SZ - news) unit, and create a Credit unit and a Solutions unit. As a result, it would scrap fixed income as a distinct business.

"The traditional, siloed-model of managing money simply will not provide the flexibility or responsiveness to build solutions that meet clients' future needs," Aviva Investors said. "We are making decisions now that will position us for the next decade."

The changes build on a May announcement that it would merge its real estate, infrastructure and private debt businesses into a new unit called Aviva Investors Real Assets.

Aviva's move follows similar strategic announcements from rivals Legal & General Investment Management and AXA (EUREX: 486352.EX - news) Investment Managers this week.

"We are making changes to the structure of our investment platform to improve processes and idea generation across teams and, ultimately, help us deliver better investment performance and outcomes for clients," Aviva Investors said. (Reporting by Simon Jessop)