Team mates?

Illustrating that the banking business creates strange bedfellows, Northern Trust Co. is reportedly teaming up with Invest Financial Corp. to provide annuities.

Sources say that the two are working on an agreement under which Invest would sell annuities in some Northern Trust offices.

If the agreement goes through, it would be a coup for both companies, albeit a strange match.

Northern Trust, a Chicagobased holding company with $16.3 billion of assets, caters to wealthy clients and has focused on trust and institutional services. The Invest program would mark a shift to the retail arena.

Though Invest has been providing bank clients with investment products since 1982, in its early years it did business primarily with thrifts.

Officials at Northern and Invest declined to comment.

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