Increasing its presence in Brazil’s asset management market, US insurer Principal Financial Group is to acquire a 60% stake in Brazilian mutual fund and asset management company Claritas Administração de Recursos for an undisclosed sum.

Commenting on the acquisition, Luis Valdes, president and CEO of Principal International, said: “Entering the Brazilian mutual fund and asset management market has long been a strategic priority for Principal.”

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Sao Paulo-based Claritas manages equity and balanced funds and managed accounts for affluent clients and institutions. At the end of 2011 Claritas had assets under management of $3.1bn. Valdes continued: “The company’s [Claritas] strong management team, solid investment track record, value added products for Brazilians and potentially international customers, and diversified distribution through financial advisors are all important competencies as we continue to grow our mutual fund and asset management business in Latin America.”

The acquisition of a stake in Claritas marks Principal’s second business partnership in Brazil. The first came in 1999 when Principal formed Brasilprev, a pension and annuity product business, in a joint venture with Brazilian Bank Banco do Brasil.

According to Principal, at the end of 2011 Brasilprev had assets under management of $27.4bn, and is currently the fastest-growing and third-largest retirement player in Brazil.

“While Brasilprev and Claritas target different markets, both support our goal to be a pension and long-term investment leader in Brazil,” commented Principal’s chairman, president and CEO Larry D Zimpleman.

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The acquisition of the stake in Claritas forms part of Principal’s strategy to deploy between $800m to $900m of capital in 2012, excluding planned share buybacks, Zimpleman added.

In 2011, Principal undertook three acquisitions at a total cost of $350m. In the largest of the three, Principal acquired 100% of UK bank HSBC’s Mexican pensions specialist

HSBC AFORE for $198m. The renamed Principal AFOR had assets of $2.9bn at the time of its acquisition. Principal reported total assets of $148bn at the end of 2011 and a net profit for the year of $682m.