In their new roles Michael Wright, John Hampton, Purna Bhudia and Nigel Bradshaw will be based in London and report to Mark Versey, chief investment officer.

The team will be lead by Wright, who was head of fixed interest at LV. In his new role as director of fixed income he will be responsible for fixed income asset allocation and managing government debt portfolios.

John Hampton will be head of credit, overseeing the institutional corporate bond portfolios. Purna Bhudia and Nigel Bradshaw are both corporate bond portfolio managers.

The business is set to launch in the second half of 2012 and will outsource its investment operations to a third party that is close to being appointed, Friends Life said.