Clive Cowdery, the vulture-fund investor who shook up the insurance industry, is back with a new venture.

He today unveiled plans to raise £1 billion from City institutions that want to target underperforming financial services companies.

The new vehicle, confusingly still called Resolution - the name of the closed life fund he sold to Pearl earlier this year for £4.9 billion - will float in London in December. Analysts say that, given the turmoil in markets, this is a bold time to be entering the stock market.

Likely investors include the main UK pension funds, which are angry with the poor performance of their holdings in financial companies, and are keen to push for a shake-up. John Tiner, the former Financial Services Authority chief executive hired by Cowdery to head the company, said: "We think that having our own paper to offer institutions is attractive from the investors' point of view. In some cases, they are quite frustrated at what is being delivered by the financial services industry."

The new Resolution will focus on familiar ground initially, aiming at life insurers and fund managers. But struggling banks could come into focus once Resolution is under way and investors are confident enough to commit more money. Tiner added: "The share placing is not the totality of the financing."

Cowdery tried to buy Bradford & Bingley a few months ago, winning support from large investors such as M&G and Standard Life for his bid.

He hopes to do five deals a year, sweeping up companies battered by the credit crunch, but is planning to have a less hands-on role this time.

Analysts say that by floating on the market, Resolution risks seeing its shares hit by the same turmoil that has affected the firms it is aiming to take over. This may give the targets ammunition in the fight to stay independent. Resolution will say it can save costs and run more-efficient balance sheets by bringing disparate businesses under one roof.