The international life assurance group, Standard Life, is restructuring its fund management operations with the aim of becoming one of the world's top 20 investment management companies. It is spinning off its existing fund management division into a separate subsidiary company. Standard Life Investments will open for business next Monday with funds under management of £60 billion sterling from the parent company.

The company is aiming to increase funds under management to £100 billion within five years by attracting in funds from other institutions and individual investors. The investment division is currently ranked about the 60th largest in the world. All 430 employees in the existing investment division of the life assurance group will become employees of the new company which will continue to be based in Edinburgh under chief executive Mr Sandy Crombie.

The new company will manage Standard Life's Irish investment funds of £1.8 billion which are currently managed by the group investment division. But there are no plans to set up a separate fund management office in Dublin. Mr Alan Ashe, the general manager of Standard Life Ireland, described the new company as "a natural evolution" in the development of the group.

"Standard Life is already the insurance provider of choice for brokers. Our aim is to make Standard Life Investments the investment provider of choice," he commented. The life assurance group has six offices in the Republic. Standard Life investment director for European funds, Mr Des Doran, said the new structure means that the investment operation will be an independent company with its own profit and loss account, control over its own resources and the job of making a profit for its parent company.