PIMCO - Outlook for the near term and the future

Hello fellow monkeys - I'm contemplating an opp at PIMCO and would like to get as much feedback as possible on a few questions/topics:

  1. What is the feeling among employees there in regards to the culture and if it's changed since Gross left. From what I hear it is changing for the better (paranoid fear factor is gone), but given the fact that there are still a lot of old school BSD's there how much can the culture truly change?

  2. How is it living in Newport Beach vs the East Coast? I hear there are positives and negatives on both sides, but generally speaking it's a draw more than anything.

  3. Is PIMCO well positioned given the fact we're in the late stages of the economic cycle and in a low rate/potentially hawkish environment?

  4. Any additional insight into Manny Roman and the changes he could potentially be making to the firm long term? I doubt they'll ever become a BlackRock, but I do know they're trying to become a more diversified alternative inv shop.

  5. Is the prestige still there? I don't see why not but just curious if others thought differently and why.

  6. Last but not least - How is the comp in comparison to other buy side shops?

 
Best Response

labanker jankynoname West Coast Analyst

I'm coming out of hiding for this one and wanted to tag some west coast guys for comment. before my career took off, I would've given both testicles to work at PIMCO. now I'm a client of theirs and while I see the window dressing aspects of it, I like to think I have some decent insight.

  1. the culture seems great, there are tons of highly intelligent people at PIMCO, things are very much done the PIMCO way rather than the mohamed way or the bill gross way, and the sense I got from all of the PMs I know that have been there before and after is very positive. it's very much intense, but it seems like a good place to work. if you want work life balance, forget about it, Mark Kiesel exercises at 2am and is at his desk by 3am checking futures in NYC. you have to bring it if you want to succeed. Mark is a helluva nice guy though, he strikes me as a father figure and someone you would want to impress

  2. I've never lived there, but visited many times and while newport is small, it's gorgeous. the building is in this little shopping/corporate center that seems insulated from the rest of the world. you can quickly get to corona del mar, huntington, costa mesa, etc. of course, I'm biased, I'm a surfer and a big punk rock/metal fan and there's a great scene in the OC for all of that. plus, it's a bit of a hidden gem being right between the madness of LA and SD.

  3. PIMCO is probably better positioned for this than any other firm out there (save other conservative fixed income shops and distressed players like Oaktree). a difficult market environment plays to their strengths

  4. not sure

  5. for fixed income, PIMCO is #1 for me. very close seconds are doubleline, TCW, and blackrock, but because of PIMCO's processes and intellectual capital, I think they really are in a league of their own. for quant and commodities they wouldn't be my #1 but they're up there. for equities they're mostly irrelevant but that's not their bread and butter

  6. not sure, all of my interaction is with strategists, PMs, and economists whose pay is largely performance driven (and thus highly variable)

 

Not a PIMCO employee. A client of a handful of products.

1) Culture seems very strong and positive. Again I don't work there, but the people I interact with seem happy and professional.

2) I've never lived on the east coast, but have visited both. I prefer the west coast 1000%. Newport/OC is one of the best places to live. As thebrofessor said, perfect location between LA/SD.

3) Can't really comment on this

4) Can't comment.

5) Again, can't comment on this. Off the cuff: PIMCO>WAMCO.

6) Won't comment on this

 

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