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Pioneer Investment Back to Russia after 7-Year Break
Pioneer Investment, one of the first unit investment funds in Russia, is coming back to the country as financial officials have issued a license for the U.S. firm on Tuesday. The Russian market now is decidedly more lucrative than it was in the mid-1990s, but Pioneer will still have to struggle to get ahead, experts say.
Pioneer Investment Management has received a license for asset management in Russia from the Federal Financial Markets Service, officials reported Tuesday. The U.S.-based firm is planning to register four unit investment funds as early as in September, according to Kommersant sources.
Pioneer set up the PioGlobal investment firm in 1995, investing $8 million in it. The Americans lost their controlling stake in the company after a merger with UniCredit in 2000 and left the market.
Russia’s Financial Markets chief, Vladimir Milovidov said that return of foreign investors to Russia after a long break is a “positive trend which proves the auspicious situation on our market.”
Pioneer Investment declined to disclose its plans in Russia. Meanwhile, analysts say that the company is likely to capitalize on the Russian market if it chooses the right retail strategy. “The asset management market is booming,” says Andrey Zvezdochkin, vice-president at Troika Dialog. “At the same time, the amount of the assets under management is quite small compared to foreign markets.” Unit investment funds held $7 billion as of July 17, 2007, which is three times as much as it was in early 2006. Alfa Capital forecasts the market to grow an annual 70 percent during the next five years.
However, personnel shortage and fierce competition may cloud Pioneer’s comeback. 80 percent of the assets in Russia are managed by ten companies. The American firm will have to battle for a place in the top ten or leave empty-handed, analysts say.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 18, 2007
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