Rumor has it that a pair of publicly traded, multinational banking titans are having serious talks about combining their asset management arms.

Unnamed sources say that the Deutsche Bank team is having serious talks with UBS about merging UBS' asset management business in with DWS, the Financial Times reports. The news follows reports earlier this month that UBS' board is weighing strategic options for its asset management business, including the possibility of buying DWS and combining it with the UBS asset management business.

Combined, DWS and UBS asset management would have 1.362 trillion euros ($1.527 trillion) in AUM. Publicly traded DWS is still 79-percent owned by Deutsche Bank, and the FT reports that the bank would still be the biggest shareholder of the asset manager post-merger.

The FT points to Allianz, Amundi, Generali, and Natixis as other potential DWS suitors. Yet the paper's unnamed sources say that an outright DWS sale is off the table, as the asset manager fits well into Deutsche's CEO's plans to amp up stable revenues.

Editor's Note: A prior version of this story gave the wrong AUM estimate for a combination between DWS and UBS asset management. They would have about $1.527 trillion in AUM. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE