Pacific Investment Management Co. named Emmanuel “Manny” Roman as its next chief executive officer, replacing Douglas Hodge, who presided over a tumultuous time that included the departure of Bill Gross and a plunge in assets at the firm.
Roman, 52, has been CEO of Man Group Plc, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund manager, since February 2013. He will assume his new position at PIMCO, owned by German insurer Allianz SE, on Nov. 1, the Newport Beach, California-based firm said in a statement on Wednesday. Hodge will become a managing director and senior advisor.
“This could be a signal that Allianz isn’t totally happy with PIMCO despite the progress seen on containing redemptions; they still have lower inflows than peers,” said Thomas Seidl, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. “This is going to be more complex than managing a firm with a leaner structure, so it’s probably not going to be an easy job.”
Roman took over leadership of Man Group at a time of volatility and client withdrawals amid losses posted by one of its main funds. That experience may serve PIMCO, which has suffered management upheaval and lost about 25 percent of its assets since 2013, when it oversaw $2 trillion.
Man Group, which said it had $78.6 billion in funds under management as of March 31, on Wednesday named Luke Ellis to succeed Roman. The shares fell 3.5 percent to 118 pence at 8:18 a.m. in London, bringing their decline this year to 33 percent. Allianz rose less than 0.1 percent in Frankfurt.
PIMCO didn’t say how much it will pay Roman. Man Group said in a statement in May that Roman’s salary will rise 10 percent to $1.1 million this year, the first increase since 2010, and he was also awarded a $2.5 million cash bonus for last year.