Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX: PNI) shares are charging higher on Friday morning.

At the time of writing, the ASX 200 stock is up almost 2% to $18.26.

This follows the release of an announcement from the investment management company after the market close on Thursday.

What did the ASX 200 stock announce?

Investors have been buying Pinnacle's shares after it announced a major strategic investment.

According to the release, the National Pension Service of Korea (NPS), through its partnership with leading global investment manager Townsend Group, has finalised an investment in Pinnacle affiliate, Metrics Credit Holdings (Metrics), in a deal that could boost the company's future expansion plans.

The partnership has agreed to acquire a 4.17% interest in Metrics for A$50 million. As a comparison, back in 2018, the ASX 200 stock invested $46 million to acquire a 35% equity interest in Metrics.

Management notes that proceeds from the investment will support future growth initiatives of Metrics. This includes potential acquisitions and the development of new investment strategies.

In addition, as part of the strategic investment, the partnership will invest into Metrics real estate focused investment strategies.

Big players

The investment from NPS and Townsend appears to signal strong institutional confidence in the growth potential of Metrics, which is one of Pinnacle's key affiliates. Under this new partnership, the two firms will support the continued growth of Metrics' real estate investment strategies, a segment that Townsend has significant expertise in.

The National Pension Service of Korea is a global financial powerhouse, managing more than KRW1,213 trillion (over US$800 billion) in assets.

Townsend is no slouch either. It is a leading provider of global investment management and advisory services exclusively focused on real estate and real assets. At the last count it had US$237.9 billion in advised assets and US$20.9 billion in assets under management.

Partnering with these two companies is a major milestone for Metrics, reinforcing its status as one of Australia's premier private debt investment firms.

Management commentary

Commenting on the news, Metrics Managing Partner, Andrew Lockhart, said:

We are pleased to partner with both NPS and Townsend. As one of the world's largest pension funds, NPS, along with Townsend, a leading global real asset investment platform, will assist our future growth plans, both domestically and internationally ‒ particularly in our real estate strategies, an area where Townsend brings considerable expertise.

The ASX 200 stock's managing director, Ian Macoun, was pleased with the news. He adds:

Pinnacle also welcomes this new partnership between Metrics and NPS and Townsend. We have been a proud distribution partner of Metrics since 2013 and a keen supporter as a shareholder since 2018.

We have been delighted by Metrics' growth during that time to become Australia's leading private markets investment manager; and, importantly, we look forward to continuing our partnership with Metrics to deliver on the multiple future growth opportunities that lie ahead, now alongside NPS and Townsend.