US – US-based Prudential Financial is to scale back its European brokerage activities to focus on asset management.

It said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it aims to “exit from certain businesses and close or sell selected offices in Europe”. It did not specify the scale of the cuts or how many jobs were at risk.

“Broadly speaking, our intention is to discontinue our traditional transactional US stockbroking activities to retail clients in Europe,” it added. It would discontinue institutional fixed income and futures business in the European retail market and exit Dryden Capital Management and PBIB London.

The moves would mean the asset management is Prudential-Bache’s main European business, which it intends to grow “both organically and by making further acquisitions in targeted countries”.

The decision to revamp its operations was prompted by global economic conditions and a corporate reorganisation in the summer.

It added: “We believe it is very important for Prudential-Bache to focus, more than ever before, on the development of its private banking and private asset management capabilities.”

It will integrate Prudential-Bache’s European and Asian private client business of into its international insurance and investments division, effective immediately.

Prudential, not related to the UK insurer of the same name, said that it has also formed a new global equity group, combining U.S. equity research, as well as institutional sales and trading in U.S. equities, in North America, Asia
and Europe.

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