Pioneer Investments, the asset management subsidiary of UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, has hired a new head of Asia and the Middle East as part of its organic growth plans.

Jack Lin most recently worked at asset manager Janus Capital where he was head of Asia-Pacific since 2008. He was previously based at US rival Franklin Templeton.

Lin started this week based in Singapore, the firm's regional headquarters. He reports toSandro Pierri, head of Western Europe and International, said the firm in a statement. Lin's appointment will help grow the Taiwan retail business and spearhead entry into new markets in Asia, with South Korea a priority. 

Pierri said: “Asia is an important growth region for us and as part of our new business plan we have set ourselves ambitious targets to grow our business in Asia. We already have some strong positions in markets such as Taiwan and we intend to step up our profile, increasing our existing market penetration and working on new market entrance strategies across the Asia Pacific region."

Last year parent UniCredit was on the verge of offloading Pioneer but in April announced it would abandon the sale in favour of growing the asset management business organically. It said at the time: "The business is in much better shape than it was when the review process was launched. Profits and revenues were up 13 per cent from 2009 while assets under management grew from €176 billion in 2009 to €187 billion in 2010," it said.

Pioneer Investments has €162 billion ($210 billion) in assets under management globally at 31 December last year, of which over half is sourced from Italy and just a fraction from Asia. This is an area of focus for the firm and it recently announced a new London emerging markets hub to strengthen its presence in Asia and other fast growth regions. 

In terms of investor profile, retail and private banking make up 49 per cent of Pioneer's asset base, followed by 26 per cent from wholesale clients and a quarter from institutional clients.

Pioneer’s global investment centres are in Boston, Dublin and London. Globally the firm has over 2,000 staff, of which 340 are investment professionals. Its chief executive is Roger Yates, who spent nine years as CEO of Henderson Global Investors before joining Pioneer in January 2010.