Heritage

Pioneer Investments has a history few asset management companies can match. Our flagship, Pioneer Fund, which celebrated its 80th anniversary on 13 February 2008, is the third oldest mutual fund in the United States.

It has not only weathered volatile market conditions, but has outperformed common stocks, long term bonds, US Treasury Bills and inflation since its foundation in 1928¹.

Innovation is part of our heritage. At the forefront of the establishment of the modern US mutual fund industry, Pioneer Investments is an industry leader in the development of this market in Europe. We were the first asset management company to launch investment funds in Italy, first in Germany to register US mutual funds under the Foreign Investments Act, and first to distribute open-ended investment funds in Poland. In 2002 we acquired the Momentum Group, which in keeping with Pioneer Investments’ tradition of innovation, is one of the founders of the funds of hedge funds industry.

In October 2000, UniCredito Italiano S.p.A. (now UniCredit Group) completed its acquisition of the Pioneer Group, Inc., further bolstering the capabilities of its asset management operations in Milan and Dublin. Following the consolidation of these powerful investment houses Pioneer Investments has strengthened its position further, helped by the 2006 merger of UCI and HypoVereinsbank, and by expanding its global reach into new markets.

Pioneer Investments provides a wide range of investment solutions including mutual funds, alternative investments and structured products to clients that include institutions, corporations, intermediaries and private investors around the world. We have investment centres in Boston, Dublin and Singapore, supported by local centres worldwide that manage assets worth €172 billion as at 30 September 2009. Headquartered in Milan, Pioneer Investments has a presence in 31 countries around the world. Today, Pioneer Investments is recognised internationally for its quality and innovation. Fitch rated since 2004, the current 'M2' rating recognises the sound capital base, history and global franchise, high corporate governance standards and solid risk management framework, among other things. Asset managers in the 'M2' category demonstrate low vulnerability to operational and investment management failure. The rating covers Pioneer Investments’ Milan, Dublin, Munich and Boston operations.

Our investment process is active, bottom-up and research-driven, based upon the principles of fundamental investing that Pioneer Investments has used since 1928. Our fundamental equity research is bottom-up, with 90% generated internally by our equity research analysts. 45 equity analysts operating from our main US, European and Asian investment hubs visit over 3,000 companies each year.

This approach enables Pioneer Investments to make informed judgements about how industries and companies have operated in the past, about their future behaviour and about the effects of these variables on stock prices. We add a strong quantitative discipline to this process, which supports the work of fundamental analysts and keeps a close check on the investment risks for our funds.