By Kirsten Grind

Pacific Investment Management Co. said Wednesday that it has hired former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as a senior adviser to the firm.

Mr. Bernanke, who navigated the Fed and helped steer the economy through the 2008 financial crisis, will provide guidance on the money manager's investment process and sometimes meet with clients, Pimco said.

The announcement follows news earlier this month that Mr. Bernanke is joining the Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel LLC as a senior adviser.

Mr. Bernanke will advise Pimco during a time of tumult at the Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm, which continues to suffer from investor outflows following the departure of star bond-fund manager and co-founder Bill Gross last September. Pimco, with $1.6 trillion in assets under management, is a unit of German insurer Allianz SE.

Mr. Bernanke, who left the Fed in 2014, has had a relationship with Pimco since late last year, contributing to the firm's periodic investment forums. He is scheduled to participate in Pimco's upcoming secular forum in May, when hundreds of the firm's executives gather to create a forecast for the global economy.

"We've been building a relationship with him since last year," Pimco Chief Executive Douglas Hodge said in an interview.

Pimco executives declined to say how much Mr. Bernanke would be paid or other details of his contract with the firm. Pimco executives say the courtship happened naturally as Mr. Bernanke already was working with Pimco.

"He'll be a resource for us in terms of formulating investment strategy, " said Daniel Ivascyn, group chief investment officer of Pimco.

Pimco has a history of bringing in big-name outside advisers. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Mr. Bernanke's predecessor until 2006, also served as an adviser to the firm between 2007 and 2011.

In a statement, Mr. Bernanke said he is "delighted to work together with Pimco's strong team of investment professionals."

Following his departure from the Fed, Mr. Bernanke was offered "many, many opportunities," at other money managers and financial firms, said a person familiar with the offers. But Mr. Bernanke didn't want to work at a firm regulated by the Fed, and was impressed with Pimco because he found the business fascinating and thought he could offer useful advice, this person said. Pimco executives initially reached out to Mr. Bernanke a,nd Mr. Bernanke met in person with Mssrs. Hodge, Ivascyn and President Jay Jacobs starting late last year, according to people familiar with the meetings.

Write to Kirsten Grind at kirsten.grind@wsj.com

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