Deals & People September 5, 2008

PIMCO’s Thompson to Step Down

PIMCO Co-Chief Executive Bill Thompson will retire at year-end 2008, the company announced.
Reported by

A PIMCO news release said Co-CEO Mohamed A. El-Erian, who returned to the firm last September to help run the money manager (See El-Erian Leaves Harvard and Returns to PIMCO ), was elected to serve as the firm’s CEO upon Thompson’s retirement. El-Erian will also continue his role as co-CIO with Bill Gross.

The announcement credited Thompson with overseeing the firm’s growth from one office, 125 employees and $40 billion in assets under management, to nine offices around the world, over 1,000 employees and $840 billion in client assets.

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Thompson will remain available for various projects and consultations.

“I believe this is a particularly good time for a leadership transition at PIMCO because our firm has never been stronger or better positioned,” Thompson said in the announcement.

The Markets September 5, 2008

World Equity Markets See Negative Three-month Period

The world’s developed and emerging equity markets both lost ground in August, and have produced double-digit, negative returns over the past three-months, according to Standard&Poor’s.
Reported by

S&P’s monthly stock market review, The World by Numbers, found said developed equity markets lost 1.56% in August and have fallen 11.55% over the past three months. The world’s emerging equity markets fell 7.09% in August and 19.40% over the past three months.

For August, within emerging markets, only the Philippines (+1.68%) and Thailand (+0.90%) managed to produce positive gains in August. Pakistan declined 20.57% as political unrest continued, while Russia declined 15.23%. Within developed equity markets only the United States (+1.54%) and the Netherlands (+0.85%) produced positive returns during the month.

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Six of the ten GICS sectors declined in August as Materials posted a -6.99% return. Consumer Discretionary in the U.S. rebounded to produce a return of 1.89%, but the ex/U.S. component of the group was off 1.99% for the month.

Growth and Value were both down in August, but performance was split by region, S&P said. Growth’s overall 1.60% decline during the month was the result of a 6.63% drop in the Asian Pacific market and a 1.46% gain in the North American region. Value saw similar results, declining 1.50% during the month with Asia Pacific down 4.46% and North America up 0.92%.

The World by Numbers for August can be accessed in full by going to www.worldbynumbers.standardandpoors.com.

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