Bill Gross On Why did Bill Gross leave PIMCO?

Updated on

Bill Gross’s investment outlook.

Dear Friends,

Dancing, or better yet as the beginning of my Investment Outlook suggests, being asked to dance, seems to have become an important part of my life over the past month or so. Having first been asked by my wonderful wife, Sue, and now by Dick Weil and Janus from a business standpoint, I write to you today from my desk in a new Janus office in Newport Beach, California. I am excited to be here and to begin a new chapter of my career. Before I get on with the main business of markets and investing in the attached Investment Outlook, I am of course aware that my change of employment has raised a lot of questions. I hope that you will understand that I cannot answer all of your questions, but here is what I can share with you.

Why did Bill Gross leave PIMCO?

Let me address the most obvious question first: Why did I leave PIMCO? Had there been a reasonable way to continue there, I would have stayed to my last breath. I was honored by the trust of the millions of clients and thousands of employees over decades. They have been the center of my life’s work. I am very proud of my record there for more than 40 years. PIMCO is a great firm with lots of great people, and Allianz was a fine owner for many years. But slowly and with great hesitation, I came to understand that it was time for me to leave. It happens sometimes to founders! But that is water under the bridge, as they say. I don’t plan to address it further. Now let’s talk about the future.

Why Bill Gross joined Janus?

The second question on your minds may be “Why Janus?” My first professional loves were markets, investing and competing in that framework. I want to return to a simpler role, completely focused on markets, investment performance and serving my clients. It seems like a good time to turn away from the complexity of helping to run a huge firm. I have had a 20-year relationship with Janus Capital Group Inc (NYSE:JNS) CEO Dick Weil (10 of which include his working for me as PIMCO’s Chief Operating Officer). When I asked him whether Janus might provide me with that simple opportunity, he responded with a very enthusiastic “yes” let’s dance together. I am excited to work in a true partnership environment with people I trust. I want to help this team succeed. Most importantly, I want to continue to help clients achieve their goals. I am not ready to retire, so here I am.

I am focused on looking ahead. I have met some wonderful people at Janus, and I see great opportunities for the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond strategy. As a brand new strategy it is tiny, certainly compared to anything I have been used to in recent decades. But that opens the door to a lot of new strategies and opportunities to generate outperformance for my new (and hopefully many continuing) clients. I am also looking forward to working with my old friend and Nobel-laureate Myron Scholes on asset allocation and with the existing Janus fundamental, credit-based fixed income team. It is exciting for me, and I hope for you as well.

Although these changes are significant, the most important things have not and will not change. I am competitive as ever, and I expect to win for my clients. You can count on me to deliver my usual global macro insights and hopefully excellent portfolio management in the years ahead. So that’s it. I look forward to serving you from my new seat at Janus.

Now, on to my first Janus Investment Outlook.

Sincerely,

Bill Gross

Via Janus.com

Leave a Comment