ITALY - Pioneer, the asset management arm of the UniCredit group, will grow its assets under management by €30bn following the merger with Capitalia.

"This will increase Pioneer's market share in Italy by just over 3% and further consolidate its position as number two in the market," a spokesman for the asset management firm told IPE. 

Total assets under management for Pioneer at the end of September were €232bn with just under 25% from institutional investors. Capitalia's asset management business is mainly for retail clients.

Capitalia asset management staff will join Pioneer as part of the integration agreement.

One senior manager has been taken on board by UniCredit - Carmine Lamanda, formerly general manager of Capitalia, becomes senior executive vice president of UniCredit.

He will be in charge of institutional relations & strategic advisory, reporting directly to CEO Alessandro Profumo.

The merger will see UniCredit become the second largest bank in Italy after Intesa Sanpaolo which merged last year.

Following the merger, Moody's Investors Service confirmed the Aa2 long-term deposit and debt ratings, and the B- bank financial strength rating ("BFSR") of UniCredito.

Both Moody's and Standard & Poor's upgraded their ratings for Capitalia to Aa2/B and A+ respectively before removing them on account of the merger.

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