Axa Investment Managers is merging its private debt and fund-of-funds businesses to create a €31 billion "alternative credit platform", becoming the latest fund manager to pull together disparate alternatives units into a single business capable of cross-selling.

The change puts Deborah Shire, formerly head of the €23 billion structured finance business, in charge of the merged operation. In October 2015, Shire was named as one of the FN100 most influential women in European finance by Financial News.