With the decks of any sale by Unicredit, the top brass at Pioneer Investments [profile] have put together a new five year plan. They want to expand -- quickly.

The Boston-based fund shop announced yesterday a number of hires and promotions which are part of a okay to increase the sales staff by 25 percent by the end of the year.

A total of 16 positions were added, bringing the total wholesaling staff to 81. Nine of these were new hires and six were internal promotions.

The personnel moves follow the announcement of a five-year strategic plan looking to grow the business.

"As part of our long-term business plan announced earlier this year, we are making strategic hires throughout the company, with a particular emphasis on the distribution and investment teams in the U.S.," stated Daniel K. Kingsbury, president and CEO of Pioneer Investments' U.S. Division.

The entire lost of new sales team members is in the company press release below.

COMPANY PRESS RELEASE
Pioneer Investments Announces U.S. Expansion Plan

BOSTON, Jun 27, 2012 -- In a move to further expand its U.S. operations, Pioneer Investments today announced a series of new hires and promotions that are part of plan to increase its U.S. retail sales team by approximately 25% in 2012. Growing the U.S. business is a top priority for Pioneer Investments, and the hires follow a recently announced five-year strategic plan that aims to increase organic growth through substantial investments in the business.

"As part of our long-term business plan announced earlier this year, we are making strategic hires throughout the company, with a particular emphasis on the distribution and investment teams in the U.S.," said Daniel K. Kingsbury, President and CEO of Pioneer Investments' U.S. Division. "The new hires announced today are a central component of a strategy to grow our business with the help of an expanded retail sales team that can reach a larger number of wealth management firms and independent financial advisors, which are among Pioneer's largest client segments in the U.S."

Joseph D. Kringdon, Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Retail Distribution, said, "Wealth managers and IFAs are rapidly growing their businesses as retail investors look for investment advice in today's difficult markets, and Pioneer is growing along with them." Kringdon added: "Our new hires allow us to reconfigure certain territories both to reach new clients and to increase the amount of support we provide to existing clients."

In total, 16 new positions were added, bringing the internal and external wholesaling sales staff to 81, an increase of 23%. The additions include 15 new wholesalers supporting wealth management firms and independent financial advisor firms in different regions throughout the U.S. Nine of these hires fill newly created positions and six are internal promotions or replacement hires. Pioneer Investments' external wholesaling team now totals 48. In addition, Pioneer named 13 new Regional Sales Specialists (internal wholesalers) who support Pioneer's field wholesalers. This includes seven newly created RSS positions, along with promotions and replacements, and brings the size of Pioneer's internal wholesaling team to 33.

The field wholesaling team members listed below report to Laura Palmer, Senior Vice President and National Sales Manager.

Senior Vice President - Regional Wholesalers

W. Wright Edler, SVP, Regional Wholesaler -- New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, El Paso. Wright joins Pioneer from the National Investment Review Institute, a firm focused on variable annuity strategies, where he was President and Founder. He has a B.S. from the University of New Hampshire.

William J. Flick, SVP, Regional Wholesaler -- South Carolina. William joins Pioneer from Columbia Management Distributors, where he held numerous positions, most recently Regional Vice President and Regional Sales Director. He has a B.A. from the University of South Carolina.

James B. MacLeod, SVP, Regional Wholesaler -- Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Kern, CA. Los Angeles County -- Advisory and IFA Channels. James rejoins Pioneer from Summit Brokerage Services, where he was an Independent Financial Advisor. James has a B.A. from Virginia Wesleyan College and attended the College of Financial Planning. Robert M. Merrell, SVP, Regional Wholesaler -- Chicago, IL -- Advisory Channel. Robert joins Pioneer from SunLife Financial, where he served as Regional Vice President of US Wealth Management. He has a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Regional Vice Presidents

Cy O. Aleman, Regional Vice President -- North Oregon, Washington State -- Wealth Management Channel, Alaska -- Advisory and Wealth Management. Cy joins Pioneer from WBI Investments, Inc. where he was a Regional Director. He has a B.S. from the University of Oregon.

Robert W. Carey, Regional Vice President -- N. California, S. Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, N. Wyoming. Rob has worked for Pioneer since February 2011, where he was Regional Sales Specialist of N. Carolina and S. Carolina. Prior to joining Pioneer, Rob was a Business Development Manager at Ridgewood Securities. Rob has a B.A. and Master's of Finance from Bryant University.

Nathan Fair, Regional Vice President -- Wisconsin. Nate joins Pioneer from Natixis Global Associates, where he was Senior Regional Director, Sales Desk Council -- National Sales. He has a B.A. from Beloit College.

Robert Giannini, Regional Vice President -- Los Angeles County -- Wealth Management Channel. Robert joins Pioneer from Wachovia Securities, where he was Senior Vice President, Fixed Income Sales. Robert has a B.A. from Columbia University and a Masters of Finance/International Finance from UCLA.

Joseph A. Hinojosa, Regional Vice President -- S. Texas, S. Louisiana -- Wealth Management Channel. Prior to joining Pioneer, Joseph was a Regional Marketing Director -- Global Annuities at The Hartford. Joseph has a B.B.A. from Southwest Texas State University.

Scott W. Holmes, Regional Vice President -- Southern California -- Advisory Channel. Scott joins Pioneer from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where he served as a Financial Advisor and Portfolio Manager for the VERITAS Group at MSSB, a wealth management team. Scott has a B.S. from California Polytechnic State University.

Jack McCaffrey, Regional Vice President -- New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Fairfield, CT -- Advisory Channel. Jack has been with Pioneer since 2006, where he has held numerous positions, the most recent being Regional Sales Specialist. He has a B.A. from Ithaca College.

Daniel O. Neville, Regional Vice President -- W. Virginia, Kentucky, Cincinnati, OH -- Advisory and IFA Channels. Daniel has worked at Pioneer since February 2005 and has been a Regional Sales Specialist covering West Florida. Dan has a B.A. from St. Michael's College.

Matthew Sullivan, Regional Vice President -- Ohio -- Wealth Management Channel. Matthew has been with Pioneer since June 2011 and was previously Regional Sales Specialist covering Southern California. He has a B.S. from Northeastern University.

Mark Tishman, Regional Vice President -- Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas -- Wealth Management Channel. Mark has been with Pioneer since September 2010 and was previously Regional Sales Specialist. He has a B.S. from the University of Central Florida.

Kevin Zellers, Regional Vice President -- N. Texas, N. Louisiana, Oklahoma -- Wealth Management Channel. Kevin joins Pioneer from Key Investment Services, where he served six years as Vice President, Financial Advisor. Kevin has a B.A. from Kent State University.

About Pioneer Investments

Pioneer Investments is the trade name for Pioneer Global Asset Management S.p.A. and its subsidiaries, a global investment firm with offices in 26 countries and approximately $187 billion in assets under management as of May 31, 2012, of which approximately $61 billion was managed in the U.S. Founded in 1928, its flagship mutual fund, Pioneer Fund, is the third-oldest mutual fund in the U.S. Pioneer Investment Management USA Inc. is the North American operating subsidiary of Pioneer Global Asset Management S.p.A., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UniCredit S.p.A. Pioneer Investment Management, Inc. is the firm's U.S. investment advisory subsidiary, and Pioneer Funds Distributor, Inc. is the firm's U.S. distribution subsidiary. For more information please visit us.pioneerinvestments.com.

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