NORDIC - Dublin-based asset manager Pioneer Investments is expanding into the Nordic region and has made a key institutional appointment to head its Swedish office.

Mats Langensjö recently left Aon Consulting as managing director to take a newly-created role as head of institutional business for the Nordic region at Pioneer, and is opening a new office in Stockholm for the asset management house.

Prior to opening a Stockholm office for Aon in 2004, Langensjö was executive director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management in London, so has experience in both the investment and consultancy arenas.
   
Paul Price, global head of institutional business at Pioneer, to whom Langensjö will report, believes hiring Langensjö is a clear indication to the Nordic region it is interesting in developing strong relations with pension funds and institutions.

"He is singularly the best known person in the Nordic market and that means his pedigree in the market is premium quality," said Price.

"We wanted to make very a specific statement about our commitment to the Nordic region so we have hired a professional who has executed on both the consultant and fund management side," he continued.

Price said the expansion is on the back of interest from local pension funds but said the company was not in any hurry to sign business as the firm is more concerned with ensuring it builds a strong presence and relations with potential investors.

"We might well already have some trust in that space, but if we are not writing mandates within the first 12 months, I will not be disappointed," he added.

Pioneer's institutional business is predominantly made up of three elements: the traditional long-only equities and fixed income operation, the alternatives offering and what Price describes as the "financial engineering division", offering diversified growth funds and absolute returns among other things.

The firm has a presence in 20 countries with three key investment bases in Dublin, Milan and Boston, and assets under management of €237.5bn.

Topics