Pimco said on Tuesday that it has hired Joachim Fels, formerly managing director and chief economist at Morgan Stanley, as the world's biggest bond manager continues to bolster its ranks after a leadership shake-up over the last year.
Fels will join as a managing director and global economic advisor, the Newport Beach, Calif.-headquartered Pacific Investment Management Co said in a statement.
He will be based in Newport Beach, reporting to Daniel Ivascyn, Pimco's group chief investment officer.
Ivascyn said in a statement: "Joachim is a highly regarded global economic expert who will bring tremendous insights and make significant contributions to Pimco's investment process."
During his 19 years with Morgan Stanley, Fels also held positions including chief international economist, chief global fixed income economist and co-head of European economics.
Over the past year, Pimco, which saw $150 billion of cash withdrawals from Pimco's U.S. open-end mutual funds, has made some notable hires after management turmoil spooked investors, including the shock resignation of Bill Gross in September from the company he helped co-found. Gross' exit came only eight months after his top deputy, Mohamed El-Erian, quit amid acrimony.
Some of Pimco's big hires over the last year include Marc Seidner, who re-joined the firm as chief investment officer of non-traditional strategies; Nobel laureate economist professor Michael Spence, a consultant to the firm on macroeconomic and global policy issues; Gene Sperling, a former principal economic advisor to Presidents Clinton and Obama, who is a consultant on U.S. economic policy issues; and Geraldine Sundstrom, a managing director and portfolio manager in Pimco's asset allocation business, who joined the firm this week.
Pimco, a unit of German insurer Allianz SE, had $1.68 trillion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2014.