LONDON - Legal & General said on Tuesday it had hired PGIM executive Eric Adler to lead its newly combined 1.1 trillion pound ($1.5 trillion) investment arm, formed as part of a wider shake-up under new group CEO António Simões.

L&G said in a statement that Adler would become chief executive of asset management, a division that will combine the insurer's public and private markets businesses under a strategy revamp announced by Simões in June.

Adler is currently chief executive of investor PGIM's $320 billion private alternatives business, which oversees investments in private credit, real estate, infrastructure and private equity. PGIM is owned by Prudential Financial.

Simões, who became CEO of L&G at the start of this year, has set out plans to integrate the company's investment businesses and to target growth overseas, including in the United States, although some analysts have been underwhelmed.

Michelle Scrimgeour, who currently heads up L&G's investment business, will step down after a handover period.

($1 = 0.7489 pounds)

(Reporting by Iain Withers; editing by Jason Neely)