The bond investing firm Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco) has named two former central bank chiefs and a former British prime minister to sit on a new board to advise on economic, political and strategic developments. Ben Bernanke, who chaired the US Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014 and was named a senior Pimco adviser in April, will lead the Pimco Global Advisory Board. The board also includes Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank from 2003 to 2011, and Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister from 2007 to 2010.
Other members include Ng Kok Song, who was group chief investment officer of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp sovereign wealth fund from 2007 to 2013; and Anne-Marie Slaughter, president of the think tank New America and a former US Department of State policy director.
Pimco, a unit of Allianz SE, had about $1.47 trillion of assets under management as of September 30th. It is strengthening its ranks following last year's departures of co-chief investment officers Bill Gross and Mohamed El-Erian. Alan Greenspan, Bernanke's predecessor as Fed chairman, previously consulted for Pimco from 2007 to 2011.
Pimco said the board will meet several times a year at its Newport Beach, California, office and elsewhere, and attend an annual forum for the firm’s portfolio managers and analysts. Dan Ivascyn, Pimco’s group chief investment officer, said in a statement that the board’s insights “will be a valuable input to our investment process.”
Pimco has struggled with more than two years of outflows from its flagship Total Return Fund, although the fund has outperformed about 85 percent of its peers this year according to Morningstar Inc. Other funds have had inflows.
Reuters
