Commerzbank has put its $900m (£638m) fund of hedge fund manager up for sale, just months after the German bank gave its main asset management unit to Allianz, the insurer, as partpayment for its takeover of Dresdner Bank.

The bank is already in talks with several groups, including rival funds of hedge funds and wealthy families' private investment offices, about a sale, according to two people familiar with the situation.