Conning, a leading US fund manager, is carrying out due diligence on Allied Irish Banks Investment Managers (AIBIM).
The sale process is understood to be nearing preferred bidder stage.
Based in Hartford, in Connecticut, Conning was set up in 1912 and has more than 300 clients. It has European offices in London and Cologne in Germany and an operation in Dublin that looks after fixed-income portfolio management.
Last week, the fund manager signed a joint venture agreement with Cathay Financial to target the Asia-Pacific market.
Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) was chosen in February as preferred bidder for AIBIM, for a price thought to be between €20m and €25m. It withdrew in early April after stress tests showed that its parent, Irish Life & Permanent, needed to raise an extra €4 billion in capital.
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Bloxham, the stockbroker, was among those invited to re-submit bids following ILIM’s withdrawal.
Interest was also expressed in the first round by Bellevue, a Swiss asset manager, and by a British pension fund.