Amvescap, the US-based fund management group which last week resorted to job cuts as part of a £100m (€97.7m) cost-cutting exercise, has bid for Whitehall Asset Management, a New York-based private wealth management firm.

Whitehall has around $1.5bn in funds under management and is currently owned by the Industrial Bank of Japan Trust, a US subsidiary of Mizuho Holdings, one of the world's largest financial groups.