Prudential Financial is blitzing the German fund market in alliance with a local bank. The American insurance giant has allied with Sal. Oppenheim, a private bank, to ensure it has a local guide as its goes after retail investors in Germany.

The deal partners Prudential with a firm that controls 1.5 percent of the German retail fund market and just more than $6 billion in fund assets. It will also open up markets in Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands to Prudential.

To form the joint venture (to be called Oppenheim Prumerica), Prudential is purchasing a 50 percent stake in Oppenheim Fonds Trust GmbH. That firm is the wholesale distribution arm of Sal. Oppenheim and Oppenheim Investment Management International SA. The latter firm is a Luxembourg-based fund management and administration company.

"By pooling our forces, both of us are stronger in the German retail fund markets than we would be if we competed separately, said Detlef Bierbaum, partner at Sal. Oppenheim in a statement. "We have created a formidable new competitor."

"Germany is a strategically important market for our international asset management business," said Stephen Pelletier, president, international capital group at Prudential Financial. "To complement Sal. Oppenheim's many strengths, we will add our global investment capabilities, product innovation, and retail marketing and distribution skills. This is a winning combination."  

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