Ignis Asset Management, the £77bn funds firm owned by the Phoenix Group, has set out ambitious plans to add more pension schemes and other big institutional investors to its roster of clients, following the recent arrival of new sales chief Claude Chene.

Chene arrived in July from AllianceBernstein, a firm with $50bn under management for institutional investors in Europe. By comparison Ignis manages only £7.4bn for clients other than its parent company, it said yesterday.