Nuveen Alternative Investments will be led by Nuveen Investments president, Mark Anson, and managing director, Jamshaud Zovein.

One of the key objectives of the new firm is the creation of a suite of alternative investments as well as the development of Nuveen's Global Endowment Model.

The Global Endowment Model will employ asset allocation, global manager search and selection, and risk management strategies similar to those used by the largest pension and endowment programmes to create an enhanced investment platform for sophisticated investors.

Anson says: 'Our focus will be to leverage the investment approach of the more sophisticated endowment and pension programs, to bring to investors actively managed multi-manager, multi-asset, and multi-strategy funds that achieve consistent, long-term absolute returns while taking on significantly less risk than the traditional market. We are deeply committed to providing the global institutional market and sophisticated high-net-worth investors with thoughtful, innovative and disciplined investment strategies, and believe this is a logical expression of that commitment.'