Pimco plans layoffs as investors continue to pull out
Newport Beach investment giant Pimco plans to lay off about 3% of its workforce as investors have continued to pull their money during the nearly two years since star manager Bill Gross abruptly left the firm.
Pimco will let go of 68 workers and offer buyouts to more, according to an internal document obtained by The Times. The firm, a subsidiary of German insurance and investment firm Allianz, said in a May regulatory filing that it had 2,321 employees.
Though it remains one of the world’s largest investment firms, Pimco, founded by Gross in 1971, has seen investors pull hundreds of billions of dollars since Gross clashed with other executives and departed to rival Janus Capital in September 2014.
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Gross last year sued Pimco for breach of contract in a case that’s still pending.
Before his acrimonious departure, Pimco managed about $1.9 trillion. As of May 25, it reported assets under management of $1.4 trillion -- a decline of more than 25%.
Many of the layoffs, announced Thursday in a message from three top Pimco executives, will come from a group focused on dividend-paying stocks. The firm will shutter six stock funds later this summer.
In Thursday’s memo to employees, Pimco executives said the layoffs were a “painful” but necessary step to better serve clients in a “fast-changing” industry.
“Today is a difficult day for all of us at PIMCO, but most importantly, for those affected by these decisions,” the executives said.
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