Pimco Advisors Forms Global Business Unit

Pimco Advisors Holdings LP said it has formed a new unit to seek business from international investors, which now represent less than 6% of its $248 billion in assets under management. Newport Beach-based Pimco, the third-biggest publicly traded U.S. fund company, said company veteran James Muzzy heads the new unit, Pimco Global Advisors. Muzzy is one of the co-founders of Pimco’s biggest fund unit, Pacific Investment Management Co. “Pimco’s strategic goal is to build a significant global presence over the next five years,” Muzzy said in a statement. Pimco Global will be involved in marketing, serving existing clients, research, product development and, eventually, fund management. U.S. fund companies like Pimco are expanding their international operations to grab a bigger piece of the surging retirement-savings management business overseas. In the Pacific Basin countries, including Japan, Australia and Singapore, pension assets are forecast to soar 55% to almost $2.3 trillion in the next four years, according to InterSec Research Corp., a consulting firm. Europe’s pension assets are expected to jump about 44% to almost $3.9 trillion in that time. Pimco now sells its institutional and mutual funds in Asia, Europe and Australia and has opened offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. Pimco shares rose 31 cents to $29.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.