Pimco's Pacific heights

Pimco (or Pacific Investment Management Co, to give it its full, somewhat unwieldy name) is the eight hundred pound gorilla of the fixed income markets. When the firm makes a major investment decision, like when it switched out of MBS in 2006, the world sits up and takes notice. Pimco's head of pan-European credit, Luke Spajic, spoke to Credit about the strategies that have enabled to firm to survive these tricky times.

West Coast bond fund manager Pimco is a towering presence in the world of credit. With its two founders, Bill Gross and Mohamed El-Erian, having built up the company over 25-odd years to become one of the largest money managers in the world, the firm's influence on the global fixed income markets extends way beyond its Newport Beach, California home. The company currently has some $775 billion in assets under management of which $40bn is devoted to global credit strategies.

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