Friends Life, the insurance and pension provider, has agreed a new syndicated loans mandate worth GBP200 million with Ares Management.

The alternative asset manager will be investing in UK and overseas senior secured syndicated loans.
 
The deal marks Friends Life’s entry into this asset class and follows other recent mandates awarded to third-party specialist managers for infrastructure and commercial real estate loans, each worth GBP500 million.
 
This GBP200 million investment is being made from shareholder funds and offers the potential for higher returns on this capital.
 
Tim Tookey, chief financial officer at Friends Life, says: “I am delighted to be able to announce the award of this new syndicated loans mandate to Ares Management. It’s important that we diversify the areas in which we invest and syndicated loans offer the potential for highly attractive risk-adjusted returns. Ares Management is a very well established player in this market and has a global presence which is really important for us.”
 
Tony Ressler, chief executive officer of Ares Management, says: “We are thrilled to forge this new relationship with Friends Life, a leader in insurance and pensions with a distinguished heritage of more than 200 years.  We are confident our expertise across a broad range of alternative asset classes as well as our proficiency in tailoring customised insurance solutions will be a source of differentiated, compelling returns for Friends Life and its highly-valued clients. We look forward to demonstrating our abilities with this mandate as well as exploring other opportunities together.”