Pimco plucks two from Schroders for equities expansion effort

Pacific Investment Management Co., the manager of the world's biggest bond fund, hired two people in its equity business as it continues to push in areas outside traditional fixed-income investing. Giles Money joins as a money manager in global growth equity strategies and Lucrecia Tam as an equity analyst focused on industrials, according to a statement today from Pimco. Both were hired from Schroders PLC and will report to Virginie Maisonneuve, Pimco's chief investment officer for global equities, who started in January after managing stocks for nine years at Schroders. “Giles and Lucrecia are key hires for our expanding team and will be important contributors to our strategies as we build out our suite of offerings,” Ms. Maisonneuve said in the statement. Pimco, which is expanding offerings as investors seek alternatives to fixed-income investments amid concern the three-decade bond rally may end, has gathered $55 billion into stock strategies, or about 3% of its $1.87 trillion in assets. As it diversifies to retain and attract clients, it's also grappling with record outflows after the abrupt departure of co-founder Bill Gross three months ago. Investors pulled about $61 billion in the third quarter, a large proportion after Mr. Gross left in late September, according to a statement last month from Allianz SE, the insurer that owns Pimco. More: (Read "Off With His Head: How Pimco Deposed the Bond KIng) OPPOSING EXPANSION In meetings in the weeks before his departure, Mr. Gross had opposed Pimco's expansion into areas, including stocks, that were seen by others as crucial to position the firm as the bond rally on which Pimco's growth had been built showed signs of waning. Pushing for a return to a simpler business model, he argued the expansion wasn't cost-efficient, that stocks and other assets were too expensive, that Pimco should retrench and didn't need the staff it had hired to diversify. Less than two weeks after Mr. Gross defected for Janus Capital Group Inc., Pimco announced five hires in its global equities team in New York, London and Newport Beach, Calif. Ms. Maisonneuve will lead the push into equities, four years after the bond manager started that expansion. She filled the role left by the January 2013 departure of Neel Kashkari, who was hired in 2009 to oversee the unit's expansion after earlier attempts to add stocks fizzled. Mr. Kashkari, who didn't manage any funds, stepped down saying he wanted to pursue a career in public service.