The organisation has folded several of its existing business groups into a new division under the moniker of M&G Wealth Management.

UK-based M&G has re-assembled a number of its business lines to create a new wealth management division.

M&G Wealth Management – to use the new division’s name - comprises Ascentric, the platform acquired from Royal London in September, Prudential Financial Planning, The Advice Partnership (TAP) and the M&G Direct funds business, M&G said in a statement yesterday.

The new division’s assets under management and administration total £28 billion ($35.9 billion). 

David Montgomery, previously M&G chief operating officer, customer and distribution, has been appointed managing director of the business, subject to regulatory approval. Montgomery, who has 10 years’ experience in financial services, joined the firm from the US insurer Transamerica at the beginning of 2020. Previously he held senior posts at Royal Bank of Scotland and Aegon UK.

"The importance of high quality services and investment solutions from wealth management businesses should never be underestimated," Montgomery told WealthBriefing yesterday. "Nor can it stand still. What we had as a new company was a group of businesses that were complementary in what they did but whose agendas needed to be better aligned."

"Our recent acquisition of Ascentric added another special ingredient to that mix. This, allied to a significant investment in digital capability across M&G Wealth Management, is something that will position us strongly in the provision of the enhanced services and investment solutions that advisors, their clients and our customers should expect as standard," he added. 

The launch comes at a time when the battle for business in the mass-affluent/HNW space appears to be warming up. Two years ago Lloyds Banking Group and Schroders launched their wealth management joint venture; Smith & Williamson recently merged with fellow UK wealth management house Tilney; and another player in the space is Quilter.

WealthBriefing has contacted M&G to find out more about the strategy and market segmentation approach of this business division, and will update in due course.