* Andy Briggs to be new CEO at Friends Provident
* Trevor Matthews takes on new role as vice-chairman
* Resolution strategy "unchanged" - FP chairman
(Adds Resolution comment, shares, analyst reaction, detail, background)
LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - British insurance consolidator Resolution said Trevor Matthews would quit as head of its Friends Provident arm because he plans to return to his native Australia, making way for industry veteran Andy Briggs.
Matthews will hand over to Briggs, currently chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group's general insurance unit, within the next six months, but his departure does not signal a change in Resolution's strategy, the company said on Tuesday.
"I wouldn't like you to think that the management changes reflect a change in strategy. The strategy is totally consistent at the moment," Friends Provident chairman Malcolm Williamson told Reuters.
Resolution, founded in 2008 by entrepreneur Clive Cowdery, aims to build a life insurer worth about 10 billion pounds through acquisitions before selling or floating it by 2013.
It bought Friends Provident for 1.8 billion pounds in 2009, and paid 2.75 billion pounds for most of Axa's British operations last year.
Briggs was previously head of Prudential's retirement income division, and his appointment could signal that Resolution has abandoned its goal of buying an annuity business in favour of growing one organically, analysts at Oriel Securities wrote in a note.
Resolution shares, up 1.5 percent at 249 pence by 1305 GMT, fell 32 percent last year on fears the company would fund acquisitions through large-scale rights issues.
Resolution aims to complete its acquisitions this year, and investors will at that point "know how to look at the stock on a long-term basis," Resolution chief executive John Tiner said.
Briggs' background in annuities is "very helpful," but the options of buying or building up an annuities business both remain open, Tiner added.
Matthews, who joined Friends Provident as chief executive from rival Standard Life in July 2008, will take on a new role of vice-chairman at the company, and will return to Australia within the next three years, Resolution said.
"Matthews is pretty well-regarded. He's done a decent job in the UK life market," Berenberg Bank analyst Trevor Moss said. ($1=.6252 Pound) (Reporting by Lorraine Turner, additional reporting by Myles Neligan; Editing by David Cowell)