Pacific Investment Management Co., the world’s largest manager of actively run bond funds, has appointed Marc Seidner as interim head of global equities after Neel Kashkari’s departure last week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Seidner, a senior member of Pimco’s portfolio management group and managing director, started overseeing the firm’s stock unit Jan. 25, said the person who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Before joining Pimco in 2009, Seidner was a domestic fixed-income portfolio manager at Harvard Management Co., which oversees the university’s endowment. Kashkari said in an e-mail Jan. 23 he was leaving Pimco to consider returning to public service.

Pimco, based in Newport Beach, California, has been seeking to reduce its dependence on fixed income as it anticipates an end to the three-decade bond rally that fueled its growth. Pimco, which oversees $1.9 trillion in assets, has attracted about $10 billion to the equity unit since the first fund was opened in April 2010. Three of the firm’s four main stock funds trailed a majority of rivals in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Wall Street Journal reported the appointment earlier today.