Another Gross protege leaves PIMCO
Global bond fund firm PIMCO announced on Friday, February 20th that Paul McCulley has resigned from his role as Managing Director and Chief Economist. McCulley just assumed his position around 10 months ago. McCulley was a protege and close friend of former PIMCO manager Bill Gross, and the statement regarding McCulley’s resignation makes it clear his decision is related to Gross’ departure from the firm last September.
February 28th is McCulley’s last day with PIMCO.
Statement from PIMCO
Daniel Ivascyn, PIMCO Group CIO, noted: “Paul returned to PIMCO last May after being recruited by Bill Gross, with whom he had a close friendship and association for more than 20 years. We understand and respect Paul’s decision to step down. He is a great friend of our firm and our people, and we wish him great happiness going forward.”
Statement from Paul McCulley
McCulley made a brief statement regarding his departure: “I accepted this position, as I said at the time, to work side-by-side with Bill Gross, as economic counselor, doing the three things that I love: think, write and speak macro. My mission here is complete. I will continue doing the things I love in other spaces, possibly in the academic arena. PIMCO will always be Camelot in my heart.”
Bill Gross left PIMCO in September
2014 was not a good year for PIMCO, and co-founder Bill Gross, known for his abrasive personality, was not happy with things. According to several sources, Gross was butting heads with a number of senior managers at the firm in the weeks before his departure. Company sources noted that five senior portfolio managers told the executive committee that they would quit if Gross stayed on. Gross, of course, ended up resigning from PIMCO, and signed on with Janus Capital Group, run by his former colleague Richard Weil. Gross is now managing the much smaller Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund. As reported by ValueWalk, Gross has invested several hundred million dollars of his own money in his new fund.
