By Kirsten Grind and Justin Baer
An executive at Pacific Investment Management Co. defended the
company in front of hundreds of top Morgan Stanley financial
advisers at a gathering in Miami on Monday, according to people
familiar with the matter.
The meeting kicked off a day in which Pimco executives sought to
persuade large and small investors that they should keep their
money at the Newport Beach, Calif.-based asset manager, despite the
departure Friday of co-founder and chief investment officer Bill
Gross.
Pimco executives, including Chief Executive Douglas Hodge and
the firm's new portfolio management team, hosted a string of
investor calls with Wall Street firms, including Merrill Lynch,
Morgan Stanley and others, according to people familiar with the
matter.
A spokesman for Pimco declined to comment.
The remarks in Miami came at a gathering of about 350 Morgan
Stanley advisers who were being celebrated for their work,
according to people familiar with the matter. Pimco Executive Vice
President Joseph Deane was on hand to lead a discussion about
fixed-income markets, said these people.
Instead, Mr. Deane was asked by an adviser about how Pimco was
planning to handle the departure of Mr. Gross, with the adviser
saying the exit was the last straw for many Pimco investors, one
person in attendance said. Mr. Deane countered by saying Pimco has
the smartest people in the world working for the company, according
to this person.
Pimco has suffered at least $10 billion of withdrawals, a person
familiar with the matter said over the weekend, a sign of how
quickly Mr. Gross's surprise move is reshaping the bond-investing
landscape. Pimco has about $2 trillion in assets under
management.
Pimco is bracing for more outflows on the heels of the veteran
investor's departure after months of internal strife over his
leadership. At the same time, some managers say they remain
committed to the firm.
Write to Kirsten Grind at kirsten.grind@wsj.com and Justin Baer
at justin.baer@wsj.com
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