Pimco scouts for Wall St cast-offs

Pimco, the world’s biggest bond manager, has approached several Wall Street banks in the hope of hiring some of the 40,000 people being made redundant a result of the credit crunch.

The novel move, part of an aggressive expansion by the California-based firm, is a sign that banks’ rush to slash staff to cope with the financial turmoil could drive talent to companies that have been shielded from the worst of the crisis.

Pimco said it had asked “between five and 10” Wall Street firms to let recently axed employees know of vacancies at the fund manager.

Dick Weil, chief operating officer,said the unusual strategy reflected Pimco’s belief that the wave of redundancies triggered by the credit crisis had made available a number of highly skilled Wall Street operators.

He said: “There is a lot of tremendous talent out there. This seemed to us the most direct route to reach out to them.”

Pimco, which has more than $800bn under management, plans to increase its 1,100-strong workforce by more than a quarter as it expands its product offering, client base and international offices.

Mr Weil said Pimco, owned by Germany’s Allianz, had approached Wall Street banks that had announced large redundancies.

Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are among the banks that have dismissed thousands of employees over the past few months.

Mr Weil stressed that Pimco’s hiring drive was not an “open door”, noting that it had clearly told the banks the types of candidates it was seeking. He said Pimco was looking to hire in a variety of areas, including mortgage securities trading and credit analysis.

The group has already interviewed 475 candidates so far this year.

Pimco is one of only a handful of money managers to have a rise in assets under management in the first quarter. Its assets rose by 21 per cent to $812bn, compared with the same quarter in 2007, on the strength of investor inflows and strong performance.

Pimco executives said its heavy recruitment was in part a response to its continued rapid growth but it also planned to develop a more global presence and develop new products. It was looking for staff for a dozen countries.

Mohamed El-Erian, who recently returned to the firm as co-chief investment officer and co-chief executive officer after briefly heading the Harvard endowment fund, will, among other initiatives, head a new global bond fund for Pimco.