• In a crisis and insecure markets situation, experts advise: invest in securities small amounts but regularly;

• With EUR 75 mio in assets at the end of February, Pioneer Funds offered in UniCredit Bulbank’s branches have the biggest share in Collective Investment Schemes in Bulgaria

New investment plan set up on the basis of the investment habits of the wealthy people around the world will be applied by Pioneer Investments. The product will be offered in all branches of UniCredit Bulbank.

“According to studies of how the wealthy distribute their various financial assets over the years, their portfolio does not change whether we are in a crisis or in growth. This prompted us to offer a product which follows the same tested strategy – that investments must be regular even if small. In this way customers are protected from the sharp market fluctuations like those in the latest months”, Head of Pioneer Investments for Bulgaria Yavor Achev explained.

According to research on the allocation of the assets of people in possession of at least 1 million US dollars, the only way to keep wealth is by maintaining a diversified portfolio – i.e. even at the time of crisis you should not rely only on one single solution, note the experts at Pioneer Investments. Their expectations are that this year the relative share of shares in the financial assets of affluent people will be 28%.

The latest research on the wealth of households in Bulgaria pointed to a significant decrease in the relative share of collective investment schemes in personal finances. „The figures show that in order to reach their share from 2007 in the portfolios of Bulgarian households the investments in mutual funds must triple their amount compared to their current rates, explains Achev.

“The onset of markets’ recovery in 2009 faced us with extremely cautious customers and a need for a new strategy in the field of investments to deal with their primary concern – what if the prices of shares start going down again? In the labyrinth of hesitations we offer a solution, which has been the practice throughout the world for many years now – Pioneer Investment Programme“, says Lyubomir Punchev, head of Retail Banking and member of the Management Board of UniCredit Bulbank.

Pioneer Investment Plan

With an option to choose the amount of the monthly installment, starting at EUR 20, the new Pioneer Investment Plan is suitable for companies, as well as for individual customers. „With this plan the minimum installment is 25 times less than the original minimum amount for a direct investment and 8 times lower than the minimum amount for a next investment. We want to show our future customers that they don’t need a great amount to start a monthly installment plan – let everyone invest as much as they can afford ”, says Lyubomir Punchev.

According to him, the common practice for purchases when the prices of funds are strongly on the rise and buybacks upon a decline suggests that the investor’s logic is extremely difficult to influence and the golden rule “buy cheap – sell expensive” does not apply for highly volatile markets such as the current ones.

The transfer for purchasing shares is made automatically from the customer’s account each month whereas the customer chooses himself the date for purchasing shares. Investors may choose amongst all the Pioneer funds, which are offered also for direct investment, and they have an opportunity for a buyback, conversion or transfer of shares from the investment plan, as well.

Advantages of regular investments:

• With a monthly installment plan you can level up the price and mitigate the effect of market fluctuations;

• You don't need a great amount to start an installment plan; invest as much as you can afford.

With an installment plan you can win on a fluctuating market without losing growth and avoid the poor performance in times of market declines

Pioneer Investments – 7 successful years on the Bulgarian market

Pioneer Investments has the greatest market share in the collective investment schemes in Bulgaria with assets amounting to EUR 75 mio as of the end of February 2009. (25% on the CIS market and 67% on the foreign CIS market, offered in Bulgaria). Pioneer Investments Funds are offered in all branches of UniCredit Bulbank. In Bulgaria customers can choose from 29 sub-funds in the Luxembourg umbrella fund, covering all main investment strategies (funds in shares, bonds, short-term funds, fund investing in raw materials and others). This is the most exhaustive offer of mutual funds on the Bulgarian market, which allows finding the best customized solution for an investor.

The sub-funds offered are competitive in terms of yield, and one of the first mutual funds on the Bulgarian market at all was awarded by S&P ААА asset management rating (the highest possible rating).

Pioneer Investments is a global investment management company with managed assets amounting to EUR 177 billion as of February 2009. The company has one of the highest asset management rating awarded by Fitch to an asset management company acting on a global scale (М2). The company offers a broad range of investment solutions, including mutual funds and structured products to institutions, corporations, intermediaries and private persons from the whole world. Pioneer Investments operates in 31 countries around the world with main investment centers in Dublin, Boston and Singapore and has over 80 years of experience. The first mutual fund of the company – American Pioneer Fund – is the third oldest mutual fund in the USA. Pioneer Investments is the trade name of Pioneer Global Asset Management (PGAM). PGAM is fully owned by UniCredit S.p.A.

Additional information is available from:

UniCredit Bulbank, Public Relations and Corporate Communications

Victoria Blazheva, tel: 02/9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva: tel: 02/9264 963, flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch