Investors Withdraw Billions From Pimco Following Bill Gross' Resignation

The Pacific Investment Management Company, or Pimco, suffered nearly $10 billion in withdrawals as investors fled the fund following the resignation of Bill Gross, the company’s co-founder and chief investment officer, on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The report added that the company, which is one of the world’s largest asset management firms, could lose nearly $100 billion of the $2 trillion worth of assets it manages in coming months. Analysts at Bernstein Research, cited by the Financial Times, put the figure much higher -- at nearly 30 percent of assets under management. Pimco CEO Douglas Hodge, however, said that he was confident that the “vast majority” of the company’s clients “will continue to stand with us,” according to media reports.

“All of our people have been activated…All of our clients are going to hear from us in one way or another,” Hodge reportedly said, adding that Pimco, which is a unit of Allianz SE, was planning to hold conference calls with investors on Monday to restore their confidence in the company.

Many analysts, however, felt that Gross’ departure would benefit Pimco’s rivals, who will seek to soak up some of its outflows.

“Pimco has been much more than Bill Gross for many years now, but I'm not sure the average investor realizes that,'' Daniel B. Roe, chief investment officer at Budros, Ruhlin & Roe Inc., which manages more than $2 billion in assets, told The Wall Street Journal.

Gross resigned from his post at Pimco on Friday, announcing that he was joining Janus Capital Group -- a much smaller firm currently valued at nearly $3 billion. Gross reportedly said that he was switching jobs to get away from “many of the complexities that go with managing a large, complicated organization,” and to focus on investing his clients’ money.

However, his resignation came at a time when Pimco executives were reportedly preparing to fire him after months of questioning his leadership style. Moreover, Hodge, in an interview to the Journal on Saturday, said that there was an “overwhelming” sense of relief among the company’s employees after Gross resigned.

“There's a sense of optimism and enthusiasm,” Hodge reportedly said, announcing the appointment of Daniel Ivascyn as the company’s new chief investment officer.