US giant PGIM looks to spread its wings in Europe

PGIM Investments, the asset management arm of US insurer Prudential Financial, has registered a range of Ucits funds for sale in five new markets.

US giant PGIM looks to spread its wings in Europe
2 minutes

The firm has set its sights on a raft of new European markets with investors in France, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain now able to access eight of PGIM’s Ucits funds, which are already available in nine other countries. 

The firm said it had also registered the eight funds for sale in Singapore.

The firm’s Dublin-based platform used for international sales, which hosts the eight funds, has accumulated $2.1bn in assets as of 31 March 2017.

The Ucits business, launched back in 2013, includes a total of 24 funds, clones of PGIM’s American strategies, including the PGIM US Corporate Bond fund, a growth fund run by PGIM affiliate Jennison Associates.

The PGIM European High Yield Bond Fund is the exception to the rule and was created based on local demand for said product.

Thirteen of the 24 Dublin domiciled funds are available to UK investors.

PGIM employs more than 1,100 investment professionals and claims to be a top-10 institutional money manager in the US. 

PGIM President and CEO Stuart Parker, who sits in the firm’s Newark New Jersey headquarters, said the funds were selected because they were “resonating with financial buyers globally.”

Parker sees the group as one and a half years into a five-year journey of organic growth and expansion, which includes further penetration into the European market.

From an asset management perspective, Europe and the UK are both “incredible marketplaces,” said Parker.

“We are not in a position to say we are either definitely staying or definitely going.

“But I personally cannot imagine us not wanting to have a presence in the UK, in terms of our coverage of this marketplace,” he continued.

“We think in very long-term periods, it’s not about what might happen in the next three to five years. My guess is the UK economy will be just fine.”

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