Under the joint venture agreement, Ignis provided distribution and operational support to Cartesian. Over the next nine to twelve months (approximately), these functions will gradually transfer to Cartesian, the firms have said.

According to a statement, the move will give Cartesian more freedom to source services from a wider range of providers and to increase its in-house resource. The firm will continue to be led by managers Andrew Kelly and Jeremy Hall. Meanwhile, Ignis can focus on the development of its own in-house capabilities.

“We are pleased to have agreed a structure whereby our final joint venture can move to an independent business structure," said Chris Samuel, chief executive at Ignis. "This follows Hexam and Argonaut moving to become independent standalone businesses and is in line with our strategic objective to build our own in-house capabilities."

In other recent news at Ignis, last week it had emerged that head of marketing James Senior had left the firm following an internal review, alongside a number of other marketing personnel. The review, which has been ongoing for 12 months, came after the group revised its growth strategy under Samuel.

Ignis Asset Management has £73.6 billion (about $117 billion) in assets under management, as at 23 August.