Aegon Asset Management said it will “retire” its Edinburgh-based Kames Capital brand in 2020 as it plans to integrate its European and US businesses “and compete more aggressively with other major global asset managers.”

Kames Capital has been rocked by a number of high profile departures in recent years.

“The creation of a globally integrated structure follows the 2018 merger of our senior European management team with responsibility for Aegon Asset Management (Netherlands), Kames Capital and TKPI (Netherlands),” said Aegon Asset Management in a statement.

“It will create a global investment business, with assets under management of €339 billion that maximizes the full potential of our multi-site teams from across the regions …

“Our investment teams will be organized across four investment platforms for which we have uniquely differentiated capabilities and believe we can be globally competitive – Fixed Income, Real Assets, Equities and Multi-Asset & Solutions.

“There will not be any changes to our investment process, nor the people managing clients’ portfolios …

“The new structure will also see the Kames Capital and TKPI brands retire in 2020 as the firm moves to the globally-recognized Aegon Asset Management brand.”

Aegon Asset Management global chief executive Bas NieuweWeme said: “By organizing our investment teams globally across the four investment platforms we can harness our experience, knowledge and resources worldwide.

“This will enhance our performance potential and help generate better investment outcomes for our clients, while providing them access to our best in breed products and solutions.

“The move will support the great work being done by our investment and distribution teams by providing them with deeper resources, while not changing our investment processes or local focus.

“The changes allow us to be more responsive to the changing markets and the evolving needs of our investors, while avoiding duplication of effort.

“The efficiencies we realize can be invested in our client proposition and service, with competitive pricing and investment in our systems and processes so that they remain best-in-class for our clients.”