Santander Asset Management’s parent Banco Santander has said it is considering merging the asset management arm of its business with Pioneer Global Asset Management.
The bank said it was discussing the move with its partners Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic. Pioneer is wholly-owned by UniCredit but Santander said “at this time no agreement has been reached as to the potential structure or the terms of that possible transaction”.
Santander Asset Management is a jointly controlled business of Santander, Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic, to which the Santander Group transferred the majority of its assets management companies in 2013.
Santander said it will inform the market if and when it reaches an agreement in the future to implement such transaction.
Pioneer Investments, the trading name used by the company, has roughly 100 staff based in London and predominantly serves the institutional market. However, it has sought to grow its wholesale business, including wealth managers, discretionary managers and financial advisers.
Santander Asset Management has hired some well-known retail fund managers lately, including former Schroders bond managers Adam Cordery and Divya Manek and last year made its Atlas multi-manager funds run by Tom Caddick and Toby Vaughan available to retail investors.
