Pimco paid former chief investment officer Gross $290m bonus for 2013 - UPDATE
Pacific Investment Management Co. (Pimco) reportedly paid its former chief investment officer Bill Gross a bonus of about $290m in 2013.
Former chief executive Mohamed El-Erian, who previously shared the title of CIO with Gross, was paid a bonus of about $230m, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg.
It comes the same year in which Gross’s Total Return Fund trailed a majority of peers.
By comparison, Laurence D. Fink, CEO of BlackRock Inc., the world’s biggest money manager received $22.9m in 2013.
Dan Tarman, a spokesman for Pimco, said: “For more than three decades, Pimco’s managing directors have maintained a substantial interest in the firm, currently 30 percent of profits, and this provides an important means to attract and retain the best investment talent to serve our clients.”
Pimco introduced a €225m award program to retain top talent. The plan applies to ‘‘all employees that are not participating in the Pimco profit pool,” including senior portfolio managers below the level of managing director, Allianz Chief Financial Officer Dieter Wemmer said on a conference call 7 November.
The figures provide insight into executive payment at Pimco, despite the firm’s main fund stumbling and clients starting to pull out. Gross’ bonus was rivaled only by a small group of billionaire money managers such as Apollo Global Management LLC’s Leon Black and Blackstone Group LP chief Steve Schwarzman.
Gross, who now works for Janus Capital Group Inc. (JNS), and El-Erian didn’t respond to phone calls seeking comment. Steven Shapiro, a spokesman for Denver-based Janus with Communications Strategy Group, also declined to comment.
Gross’s reward accounted for 20% of the firm’s total bonus pool, according to the documents. His Pimco Total Return more than doubled in size from 2008 to its peak of $293 billion in April 2013, when it was world’s biggest mutual fund.
Since Gross left, Pimco has hired back old members of the investment committee including Marc Seidner, who exited in the wake of El-Erian’s departure. Pimco hasn’t lost any portfolio managers since Gross, according to Wemmer.