You heard it here first, on two separate occasions.

Firstly, MFWire reported in October a rumor that Jamie Dimon was mulling a sale of part or all of its asset management business.

Now, MFWire's sister publication 401kWire has broken news that Dimon is selling off J.P. Morgan's retirement business to Bob Reynolds' Putnam and Charlie Nelson's Great West.

401k reported last month that both Putnam and Great West were merging their retirement operations, as Reynolds was promoted to the positions of president and CEO of Great-West Lifeco U.S. Inc., the umbrella parent of both companies.

Admittedly, J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services is just one part of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, but it is a significant player in the retirement and is an important part of the bank's asset management business overall.

The sale could help Dimon if he is still considering a sale of J.P. Morgan's asset management or fund businesses. Buyers open to looking at the bank's asset management or fund businesses might not have an appetite for retirement arms, which are low margin and have a heavy focus on technology and operations.

Any deal, like the recent sale of the bank's commodities business, would help Dimon as he scrambles to simplify the financial giant's operations in the face of mounting regulatory quandaries.

Putnam's announcement regarding the deal can be found here. 

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