Italy’s Generali and the owner of France’s Natixis are set to combine their asset management operations to create a European giant overlooking 1.9 trillion euros ($1.979 trillion) in assets.The Italian insurer and French retail bank Groupe BPCE signed a preliminary deal underpinned by 15-year contracts to form a joint venture they will each own a 50% of.

With €1.9tn in AUM, the joint venture would allow the pair to expand globally and speed up a push into private markets.

The board of Italy's top insurer Generali has approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that paves the way for an asset management deal with BPCE's Natixis Investment Managers to crate a European champion,