MutualFundWire.com: Two Boston Fund Firms Join the Blogosphere

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Thursday, January 12, 2012

Two Boston Fund Firms Join the Blogosphere

One of the oldest names in the mutual fund business has joined the blogosphere. Pioneer Investments [profile] has started a blog, followpioneer.com, featuring posts from U.S. chief investment officer Ken Taubes, U.S. retail sales and marketing chief Joe Kringdon and others.

"We, like everybody else, have been looking at multiple channels of communication to our clients," Kringdon said in an interview. "We recognize that social media has become an important part of the communication landscape."

Over at Columbia Management, CIO Colin Moore and his team have also become bloggers. Click here to view Columbia's blog.

In addition, Columbia launched a YouTube channel and created a Twitter account(twitter.com/@ColumbiaMgmt).

"We're using social media to provide valuable content that helps financial advisors build relationships with clients and prospects," said Chris Thompson, head of product and marketing at Columbia Management.

Pioneer Press Release

Pioneer Investments' Blog Lets Advisors and Their Clients Follow Pioneer

Pioneer Investments today announced the launch of an investment blog featuring timely commentary on the economy and the markets from some of its senior portfolio managers and executives. The blog is open to the public and provides easy access to insights on current investment topics.

The Pioneer Investments blog can be accessed at followPioneer.com. Investors and advisors can subscribe to the blog and receive email notification of updated content via Pioneer’s eNotify system, which is accessible through the blog.

"followPioneer is just one step we are taking to bring Pioneer’s intellectual capital, in the form investment ideas and market insights, to our clients and investors in an easily accessible and 'real time' manner," said Joseph Kringdon, President of Pioneer Funds Distributor, Inc. and Head of U.S. Retail Sales & Marketing. "We are committed to providing advisors and investors with timely views into the markets and sharing our best strategy ideas. We are also committed to using a variety of tools to distribute this information to a broad audience, which includes expanding the use of social media. The blog is an important new resource. Over time we will evolve with additional multi-media capabilities and social media tools."

Some of Pioneer's top investment professionals will be regular bloggers, including:

Ken Taubes, U.S. Chief Investment Officer
John Carey, Portfolio Manager, Pioneer Fund, Pioneer Equity Income Fund
Mike Temple, Director of U.S. Credit Research, Portfolio Manager, Pioneer Absolute Return Credit Fund
Sam Wardwell, SVP and Investment Strategist
Timothy Pynchon, Portfolio Manager, Pioneer High Income Municipal Fund
Michele Garau, Portfolio Manager, Pioneer Multi-Asset Real Return Fund
Joe Kringdon, EVP, Head U.S. Retail Sales and Marketing

followPioneer can also be accessed through Pioneer's U.S. Web site, us.pioneerinvestments.com.

Columbia Press Release

Designed to help financial advisors better connect with clients and prospects

BOSTON-- Columbia Management, the seventh largest manager of long-term mutual fund assets in the U.S., has launched a new social media program to help financial advisors communicate more effectively with clients and prospects.

Three social media outlets now feature easy-to-share news and insights from Columbia Management in the form of blog entries, tweets and videos in the following formats:

*Columbia Management Perspectives blog [columbiamanagement.com/blog] features posts from our thought leaders, including:
Colin Moore, chief investment officer
Colin Lundgren, head of fixed income
Robert McConnaughey, head of equity
Marie Schofield, chief economist
Todd White, head of alternative strategies
*@ColumbiaMgmt [twitter.com/@ColumbiaMgmt] on Twitter provides notifications about blog entries, market commentary, news releases and more.
*Columbia Management YouTube channel [youtube.com/columbiamanagement], offers an extensive video library featuring current thought leadership and investment themes.

"We're using social media to provide valuable content that helps financial advisors build relationships with clients and prospects," said Chris Thompson, head of product and marketing at Columbia Management. "We're excited to use these new outlets to share our market views and company news."

About Columbia Management:
Columbia Management is the seventh largest manager of long-term mutual fund assets with $325 billion under management as of September 30, 2011. Columbia Management is a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP - News). For more information, visit columbiamangement.com.

About Ameriprise Financial:
At Ameriprise Financial, we have been helping people feel confident about their financial future for over 115 years. With outstanding asset management, advisory and insurance capabilities and a nationwide network of 10,000 financial advisors, we have the strength and expertise to serve the full range of individual and institutional investors' financial needs. For more information, or to find an Ameriprise financial advisor, visit ameriprise.com.

Investment products are not federally or FDIC-insured, are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed by any financial institution, and involve investment risks including possible loss of principal and fluctuation in value.

Securities products offered through Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., member FINRA. Advisory services provided by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC.