GERMANY - Some sort of merger between insurance broker FUNK and Böhm Consultants, an actuarial and pensions firm, is imminent and could be officially announced on Monday, IPE has learned.

Details of the deal were not immediately clear. While some sources familiar with events said FUNK would acquire Böhm Consultants, others said a merger between the houses was planned.

Hamburg-based FUNK is one of Germany's biggest and oldest insurance brokers, specialising in industrial and maritime cover. Its agents also sell insurance and other financial products that they source from life insurers active in Germany.

Employing around 1,000 people, FUNK also has offices in numerous European countries and globally. It has a six-member management board with Leberecht Funk as chief executive.

It is not clear whether the Funk family still owns the majority of the broker. Funk himself did not return phone calls from IPE seeking additional comment on the imminent merger with Böhm.

Böhm, which employs around 80 people and is based in the Frankfurt suburb of Neu Isenburg, also declined comment.

Launched several years ago, Böhm has emerged as a fierce competitor to traditional German actuarial and pensions firms like Heissmann and Heubeck AG as well as foreign entrants like BodeHewitt, Watson Wyatt, Mercer and Aon Jauch & Hübener.

A FUNK-Böhm tie would be just the latest example of the merger and acquisition activity that has swept Germany's actuarial and pensions advising market.

Separately, the German arm of Invesco confirmed to IPE that Christof Quiring, head of pensions management, was leaving the asset manager on September 30.

A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt-based firm said a replacement for Quiring had already been found. She could not say where Quiring was going.

Quiring's biggest achievement at Invesco was building its business with so-called overtime accounts. The accounts enable an employee to save, on a tax-deferred basis, the monetary equivalent of overtime hours, unused holiday, cash bonuses or a portion of salary to help finance early retirement.

Invesco currently has 15 mandates from companies to manage the accounts, including those from aircraft giant Airbus and its parent company EADS, the space and defence technology firm.

Topics