Amundi buys Pioneer to create asset management giant

Amundi, the largest European asset manager in terms of AuM, has acquired Pioneer Investments, a global asset manager with a strong focus on insurance-linked securities (ILS) and over $1.65 billion invested in insurance and reinsurance linked assets.

Pioneer’s sale has been on the cards for some time, with a number of large asset managers identifying the company as an opportunity to buy. Amundi has been successful and the combined group will have a huge €1,2761 billion of assets under management in combination.

The acquisition grows Amundi’s interest in ILS, the manager already has some assets invested in the space through certain strategies we understand. Pioneer has become one of the leading users of ILS and catastrophe bonds within its mutual fund strategies, allocating capital to reinsurance and ILS through a number of multi-strategy funds.

Pioneer then launched its ILS Interval Fund, which is the managers first dedicated ILS and reinsurance linked investment strategy.

The ILS Interval Fund strategy has grown to near $150m in size, but the bulk of the ILS assets that Pioneer invests in are across a number of multi-strategy funds that are marketed to mutual fund investors.

Amundi said this morning that it has signed a binding agreement with UniCredit to acquire Pioneer Investments for an all-cash consideration of €3,545 million.

The move will create the 8th largest asset manager globally and provide Amundi with reinforced leadership in some markets, a leading U.S. platform for management and distribution of assets, greater retail investor access, an expanded institutional client base and a more diverse offering.

Xavier Musca, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Amundi, commented; “This acquisition is fully in line with the selective acquisition strategy announced at the time of the IPO: Pioneer Investments will reinforce Amundi’s product expertise, broaden its distribution channels and networks, and generate significant synergies. It confirms Amundi’s position as a clear European leader in asset management, in terms of size and profitability.”

Yves Perrier, Chief Executive Officer of Amundi, also said; “The acquisition of Pioneer Investments is a major step to anchor Amundi as the European leader in asset management. This acquisition will reinforce Amundi’s industrial model and will benefit our clients whilst creating significant value for our shareholders. Pioneer Investments is a world class asset manager that has a highly complementary business and geographic profile. At Amundi we are all excited to welcome soon our new colleagues who will join us in a leading asset management group fully dedicated to serve its retail and institutional clients.”

Join Artemis in New York on February 3rd 2017 for ILS NYC.