I believe it was Bill Clinton who said, “If you don’t toot your horn, it usually stays untooted.” Good advice, but keeping his horn concealed may have helped his political and personal career in a few instances too.
In sticking with the horn metaphor, I will toot my own horn as it relates to my skepticism about bond behemoth PIMCO’s long failed attempt to enter the equity fund market. Since 2009, watching PIMCO’s efforts of gaining credibility in stock investing has been like observing a slow motion train wreck.
Although, PIMCO may continue its flailing struggles in its so-called equity offerings, the proverbial nail in the coffin was announced last week when PIMCO’s chief investment officer of global equities, Virginie Maisonneuve, left the bond giant after only a year. This departure adds to the list of high profile departures, including Bill Gross, Mohamed El-Erian, Paul McCulley, Neel Kashkari, and others.
The Wall Street Journal states PIMCO only has $3 billion (0.2%) of the firms $1.6 trillion of assets remaining in actively traded stock funds. PIMCO claims to have more assets in equity funds managed by Research Affiliates but good luck finding any stocks in these portfolios – for example, Morningstar lists 0 Stock Holdings and 698 Bond Holdings in its PIMCO RAE Fundamental Plus EMG Stock Fund. And please explain to me how this is a stock fund?
Regardless, any way you look at it PIMCO continues to flounder in its stock fund efforts. If you would like to read more about my victory lap, please reference my previous February 2013 PIMCO article, Beware: El-Erian & Gross Selling Buicks…Not Chevys.
[drizzle]Here is a partial excerpt:
PIMCO Smoke & Mirrors: Stock Funds with NO Stocks
Just when I thought I had seen it all, I came across PIMCO’s Equity-Related funds. Never in my career have I seen “equity” mutual funds that invest solely in “bonds.” Well, apparently PIMCO has somehow creatively figured out how to create stock funds without investing in stocks. I guess that is one strategy for a bond-centric company of getting into the equity fund market? This is either ingenious or bordering on the line of criminal. I fall into the latter camp.
How the SEC allows the world’s largest bond company to deceivingly market billions in bond-filled stock funds to individual investors is beyond me. After innocent people got fleeced by unscrupulous mortgage brokers and greedy lenders, in this Dodd-Frank day and age, I can’t help but wonder how PIMCO is able to solicit a StockPlus Fund that has 0% invested in common stocks.
You can judge for yourself by reviewing theirequity-related funds on their website (see also chart below):
PIMCO Equity-Related Funds with No Equity
PIMCO Active Equity Funds Struggle
With more than 99% of PIMCO’s $2 trillion in assets under management locked into bonds, company executives have made a half-hearted effort of getting into the equity markets, even though they’ve enjoyed high-fiving each other during the three-decade-long bond bull market (see Downhill Marathon Machine). In hopes of diversifying their bond-heavy revenue stream, in 2009 they hired the head of the high-profile $700 billion, government TARP program (Neil Kashkari). Subsequently, PIMCO opened its first set of actively managed funds in 2010. Regrettably for PIMCO, the sledding has been quite tough. In 2012, all six actively managed equity funds lagged their benchmarks. Moreover, just a few weeks ago, Kashkari their rock star hire decided to quit and pursue a return to politics.
Mohamed El-Erian and Bill Gross have never been camera shy or bashful about bashing stocks. PIMCO has virtually all their bond eggs in one basket and their leaderless equity division is struggling. What’s more, like some car salesmen, they have had a creative way of describing the facts. If it’s a Chevy or unbiased advice you’re looking for, I recommend you steer clear from Buick salesmen and PIMCO headquarters.
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