Legal & General Investment Management, one of the UK’s largest fund managers, has launched a retail business in Italy as part of its effort to expand in continental Europe and provide a boost to its fledgling exchange traded funds business.

LGIM, which manages £983bn in assets, has hired Giancarlo Sandrin from BlackRock to oversee its growth in the country. While at BlackRock, Sandrin was head of asset manager clients in Italy for iShares — the US asset manager’s ETF arm.