Bill Gross pal McCulley leaving Pimco after firm hires former Morgan Stanley chief economist

Paul McCulley has stepped down from his role as managing director and chief economist at Pacific Investment Management Co. less than a year after rejoining the firm. “Paul returned to Pimco last May after being recruited by Bill Gross, with whom he had a close friendship and association for more than 20 years,” Daniel Ivascyn, Pimco's group chief investment officer, said in a statement Friday. His last day at the Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm will be Feb. 28. The $1.68 trillion money manager said this month it hired Joachim Fels, former chief economist at Morgan Stanley, as global economic adviser. The manager of the world's bond biggest mutual fund is seeking to reassure clients and fortify its ranks after a year of record redemptions and the departures of co-chief investment officers Mr. Gross and Mohamed El-Erian. In the past year, the firm has hired 28 senior professionals, including Gene Sperling, a former economic adviser to two U.S. presidents, and Nobel laureate Michael Spence as consultants on economic policy. (More: After Bill Gross, Pimco Total Return performance is back at the top) Mr. McCulley said that he accepted the position last year to work side-by-side with Bill Gross. “My mission here is complete,” he said in the statement. “I will continue doing the things I love in other spaces, possibly in the academic arena. Pimco will always be Camelot in my heart.”