(Updated) Friends Life is to separate its open and closed books of business as part of parent company Resolution's UK Life project.
New Friends Life chief executive Andy Briggs will oversee the split, which will create a 'heritage' business unit headed by chief commercial officer Evelyn Bourke.
The new business, which will sit alongside the group's corporate benefits, retirement income and protection propositions, will cater for some four million customers in products no longer "actively marketed" by the group.
It will include customers with with-profits policies sold as far back as the 1970s, unit-linked products including investment bonds, pre-stakeholder pensions and insured final salary pension schemes.
Bourke said: "Nothing will change as far as these customers and their advisers are concerned."
She added the closed book unit will have more products added to it as Friends Life shuts down business lines following its integrating with fellow Resolution acquisitions Axa UK Life and Bupa Health Assurance.
The development comes as part of Resolution's half year results, published today.
The consolidation vehicle posted pre-tax profits of £390m for the six months to 30 June 2011. This compares to £151m profits for the same period in 2010.
John Tiner, chief executive of Resolution Operations, said: "We announced strategic and financial objectives for Friends Life in February.
"Four months into this programme, the business is showing signs of delivery in a number of areas that demonstrate it is on a path to deliver against its targets in full."
