German insurer Allianz has called on its California-based asset manager, Pimco, to prove itself after investors withdrew a further 22 billion euros ($30 billion) in the first quarter, denting group earnings.

Performance at Pimco, which has been an Allianz cash cow for years and runs the world's biggest bond fund, has become a growing problem since the departure of its co-chief investment officer, Mohamed El-Erian, this year after a clash withPimco founder Bill Gross.

Europe's biggest insurer said that institutional clients had joined retail investors in pulling funds from Pimco, whereas last year it said withdrawals came mainly from the retail side.

Allianz Chief Financial Officer Dieter Wemmer said the group is convinced the outflows at Pimco would narrow in time.

"Pimco certainly has to prove that it stops at some point," Wemmer said in a conference call with analysts after Allianz released first-quarter results on Wednesday.

"After bringing it (the outflow) to zero, the next step is bringing it to a positive number," he added.

Pimco's outflows in the quarter were less than the 29 billion euros and 36 billion euros that took flight in the third and fourth quarters of 2013, but it still faces headwinds as investors position for higher interest rates in its main market, the United States.

"The trend is pointing in the right direction," Wemmer said in a Reuters TV interview, referring to the drop in outflows. "But the market environment for actively managed fixed-income funds is at the moment a bit difficult; there are also outflows at our big competitors on the same products."

But the latest fund flow figures from Morningstar Inc show a different picture.

Michael Rawson, an analyst at Morningstar, said in an April report titled "Investors Return to the Bond Market, Just Not to PIMCO" that investors added $39 billion to long-term U.S.-domiciled mutual funds in March, but Pimco saw net outflows for the same period.

First « 1 2 » Next