Samsung Securities signs alliance with Pioneer

To broaden its investment portfolio, Samsung Securities has gone into a strategic alliance with global asset management firm Pioneer Investments.

The agreement was signed last Thursday.

The move is intended to strengthen its product line to offer higher returns at a time when investors are skeptical over their investment in the local market due to the central bank’s loose monetary policy and lowering of interest rates.

Under the agreement, Samsung will exclusively introduce a multi-sector bond fund “Pioneer Strategic Income Fund.” The fund will be making strategic investments in various global bonds, which will include high-yield funds and treasuries.

The annual profit rate for the product is 7 percent.

“The [local market] need for midsize risk with midsize returns is growing,” said Chung Young-wan, senior vice president on customer strategy division at Samsung Securities. “We are putting efforts in widening investors’ choice by diversifying investment targets and management means.”

Pioneer Investments was founded in 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts, although it is now headquartered in Italy. It has a presence in 28 countries and more than 2,090 employees including over 350 investment consultants.

It manages over 192.6 billion euros ($246 billion) in assets and 60 percent of the assets it manages are bonds.

The company also runs the third oldest mutual fund in the United States, Pioneer Fund.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]