Legal & General Investment Management America, part of UK-listed insurance and financial services firm Legal & General, has officially rolled out its index fund management business for the US.

Legal & General Investment Management America, part of UK-listed insurance and financial services firm Legal & General, has officially rolled out its index fund management business for the US.

The firm said the new unit is designed to build on the management strategy and capabilities already provided for the American pension and institutional market, and will also expand on its core fixed income and liability-driven offerings, according to a statement today. The unit builds on the Legal & General Investment Management business that serves Europe and Asia, now overseeing more than $466 billion of index funds under management (as at the end of September).

The Americas business recently brought in $60 billion in pension assets from UK-based LGIM - more than doubling its assets under management - and added two members to the index fund team: LGIM’s Drew Miyawaki, head of global equity trading, and Aodhagán Byrne, index portfolio manager. They joined Chad Rakvin, head of US Index Funds, and Shaun Murphy, director, index funds, to lead the initiative.

“We expect the movement from traditional active management to index and alternative beta strategies will continue to accelerate, driven by the investor’s increasing appetite for transparency and lower cost implementation,” Rakvin said.