CI Investments Inc. is rolling out a new division focused exclusively on the institutional investment marketplace, the company said Tuesday.

CI Institutional Asset Management unites CI’s existing institutional distribution business with KBSH Capital Management. Its clients account for approximately $8 billion in assets under management at CI.

The creation of the new division is part of CI’s strategy to devote more resources to marketing its award-winning investment managers to institutional investors and expanding its share of this market.

“CI has been very successful in developing partnerships with a number of large financial institutions, and we are now gaining increasing business with defined contribution pension plans,” says Peter Anderson, CI’s CEO. “The consolidation of the CI and KBSH institutional businesses is an opportunity to offer our investment management expertise to a broader clientele and we intend to aggressively grow our presence in the defined benefit and endowment markets.”

The CI Institutional Asset Management sales and service team consists of 10 experienced professionals led by Christopher Boyle, senior vp, CI Investments. Craig Auwaerter, former head of institutional marketing at KBSH, has taken on a senior role within the group, as well as continuing with his current responsibilities.

The launch of the new division follows the completion of the integration of the KBSH investment management team with Signature Global Advisors, a division of CI. Signature is a team of 24 investment professionals managing approximately $20 billion in assets over a wide range of Canadian and global equity, balanced and fixed-income mandates.

“This successful integration marks an important turning point in our future,” says William Vieira, chief investment officer of the KBSH team. “Partnering with Signature’s award-winning team is providing the managers of the KBSH mandates with high-quality research, unprecedented access to leading issuers and best-in-class trade execution.”