The reductions will be made to Zurich Scudder and Deutsches asset management unit and and will affect about 400 investment professionals, including portfolio managers, analysts and traders, the Journal reported.
The cuts represent "real cost savings," Dean Barr, global CIO for Deutsche Asset Management told the Journal. Calls to Deutsche were not returned by press time.
Both firms have struggled this year. Scudders funds posted $2.3 billion in net outflows for the first nine months of this year, dropping its total net assets in funds to $105.3 billion, the Journal said. Meanwhile, Deutsches mostly money market portfolios have lost nearly $3.8 billion in net assets, dropping its total fund assets to $47.5 billion, the Journal said.
Deutsches acquisition of Zurich Scudder will make it the fourth largest asset management manager in the world and significantly increases its presence in the U.S. market. Scudder has approximately 4,000 employees and had about $279 billion in assets under management as of the end of June, Deutsche said.
The two firms are expected to align organizationally on Feb. 1, 2002, with two groups emerging: Corporate and Investment Bank and Private Clients and Asset Management, Rolf-E. Breuer, a chairman with Deutsche Bank said.
