Deutsche Bank Australia and New Zealand has confirmed the sale of its asset management business is being considered as part of a global review of the operations by its parent company.
Deutsche Bank AG announced at the end of November last year that it was conducting a strategic review that would examine how recent regulatory changes and associated costs and changes in the industry would impact on the business and its growth prospects on a bank platform.
A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank in Australia confirmed that could include a sale of the local business.
"We announced back in November that the asset management business was undergoing a strategic review, which could include a possible sale," the spokeswoman said.
"Australia would be included in this as part of the global process."
But she emphasised that until a decision was made, the business continued to operate normally.
"Whilst the strategic review has been underway, the team are operating as business as usual and have in fact had some major wins, especially in the RREEF Real Estate and Infrastructure businesses," she said.
The review excludes the global retail asset management DWS franchise in Europe and Asia, which the bank has already determined is a core part of its retail offering.
According to the Financial Times, that left an institutional and United States retail business with assets under management of just under $500 billion up for grabs.
The review was partly sparked by regulatory changes worldwide.
In the US, the strict definitions of the Volcker rule within the Dodd-Frank Act could lead to a situation where banks are not allowed to run any asset management products other than mutual funds, which would severely impact on the profitability of asset management operations.
While in Europe, the need to meet higher regulatory capital requirements is expected to lead to banks divesting parts of their operations.
In 2007, Deutsche Bank sold part of its Australian asset management operations, including its Australian fixed income and Australian equities manufacutring operations, to Aberdeen Asset Management for $148 million. This business represented about 26 per cent of the Australian asset management arm at the time.
