Another fund house splits its business

INVESTMENT firm Old Mutual is floating its fund management arm on the stock market as it breaks up the business.

The Anglo-South African company will list Old Mutual Wealth in London and Johannesburg with a price tag of £3bn, after this year’s results are unveiled in 2018.

A South African insurance firm will also be spun off as a public company. Old Mutual is splitting up as a result of global regulation changes which mean its business is too complex to manage.

The plan is the brainchild of chief executive Bruce Hemphill, who will pocket up to £9m if it goes ahead. It follows a flurry of activity in the investment industry as firms face tougher rules and more competition from cheaper stock market-linked funds.

Rivals Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management are joining forces in an £11bn tie-up.

This week, Prudential said it was combining its UK life insurance operation with its investment business M&G . Old Mutual yesterday revealed a half-year profit of £969m, up 37pc on the same period in 2016. It hiked the interim dividend by 32pc to 3.53p. Shares fell 3.1pc, or 6.2p, to 195.3p.