$2.1B Oppenheimer bond team jumps to TCP

Jerry Thunelius, the head of fixed income at Oppenheimer Capital, and four members of his team have left the firm to join TCP Global Investment Management LLC.
Starting today, Mr. Thunelius and senior portfolio managers Michael Allen and Martin Fetherston will be managing TCP’s new fixed-income strategies, including Core and Core Plus offerings, according to a statement made by TCP.
Brad Goldman, another Oppenheimer Capital vet, has also joined TCP as managing director, fixed income marketing and client services.
Mr. Thunelius and his team’s departure mark a huge blow to Oppenheimer Capital, said a person familiar with the situation. The team managed $2.1 billion.
The team’s departure comes just as the firm’s parent, Allianz Global Investors Capital, finished a two-year integration of Oppenheimer Capital, Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management LLC and NFJ Investment Group LP. The firm changed its name from Allianz Global Investors to Allianz Global Investors Capital last week, marking the completion of that integration, said Susan Hunter, a spokeswoman.
The team left because they simply couldn’t compete for internal resources against their sister company, Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC, said the person familiar with the situation, who declined to be identified.
“Pimco was so profitable, and this thing was just an eyesore, but they had huge potential,” this source said “There was no commitment to the fixed-income team, so they left.”
Ms. Hunter declined to comment on “what sounds like rumor,” but emphasized that the integration of the three companies didn’t affect the investment operations side of the business. It was only the business and sales side that was integrated, she said.
“Each of the same investment operations remains autonomous,” she said. The assets managed by Mr. Thunelius’ team will now be managed by Allianz’s income and growth team, which is led by Doug Forsyth, managing director. Mr. Forsyth and his eight-person team manage $5 billion in income and growth assets.
Mr. Thunelius was not available for comment, said Chenoa Taitt, a spokeswoman at TCP.
Before joining Oppenheimer Capital, Mr. Thunelius was head of long-term taxable fixed income at The Dreyfus Corp., where he recruited Mr. Fetherston and Mr. Allen. In 2001, Mr. Thunelius, Mr. Fetherston and Mr. Allen were among five employees who filed a lawsuit against Dreyfus, claiming that company officials guaranteed their future employment and denied that the firm’s parent, Mellon Financial Corp., was planning to acquire Standish Ayer & Wood and merge the company with the taxable-fixed-income group.
The New York Court of Appeals tossed the suit in February of 2008.