UPDATE: Pimco names Asia head to replace Hong
US fixed income specialist Pimco has appointed Eric Mogelof as head of Asia Pacific to replace Hong Ki-Myung, who retired in March last year, and will shortly name a new Australia chief.
Previously head of Americas institutional business and global head of Pimco Advisory, Mogelof will transfer to Hong Kong from New York next month.
Mogelof will have management oversight responsibility for the firm’s business in the region, including Pimco’s Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo offices.
The appointment comes as the fund house has reportedly suffered 14 consecutive months of client outflows and saw the exit of CEO and co-CIO Mohammed El-Arian earlier this year.
While Pimco firm has experienced outflows in certain product areas, it is attracting inflows across certain investment strategies, including income generation, credit, and alternatives, says a spokeswoman. The firm anticipates that a growing number of investors will look to its alternatives platform given that equity and fixed income returns are expected to be more modest in the current environment.
Reporting to Mogelof will be Asia ex-Japan head Brian Baker and Japan co-heads Akinori Matsui and Shinichi Yamamoto. A new Australia head – due to be announced shortly – will also report to Mogelof.
John Wilson was previously Pimco’s Australia head but left in May last year, and Rob Mead, head of Australia portfolio management, took on his responsibilities on an interim basis.
He will report to global chief executive Douglas Hodge, who had held Hong’s responsibilities in the interim. Hodge had run Asia-Pacific out of Tokyo from 2002 to 2009.
Melody Rollins will take up Mogelof’s role in the US; she was previously executive vice president of account management.
Mogelof will continue to serve as a member of Pimco’s executive committee, the governing body that sets policy and strategic direction for the firm.
He joined the firm in 2003, before which he worked as a financial analyst in the investment banking division at Salomon Brothers. He was also an associate at Jupiter Partners, a private equity firm.
As of September last year, Pimco managed $186 billion for Asia-Pacific clients out of global assets under management of $1.97 trillion. Global AUM remained at $1.97 trillion as of June 30, but the firm declined to provide the most recent Asia-Pacific figure.