PIMCO Beefs Up Emerging Markets Team

PIMCO says the move supplements other efforts in this area, including the launch of PIMCO’s first emerging market equity strategy and its emerging multi asset strategy.

Francesc Balcells joins PIMCO in July as an Executive Vice President and Portfolio Manager and will be based in the firm’s Munich office. In addition to managing global emerging markets portfolios and contributing to the firm’s investment strategies, he will lead PIMCO’s local bonds and currency initiatives based in Munich.  He was previously with Rogge Global Partners, where he was head of emerging markets and portfolio manager for EM fixed income and foreign exchange. He was previously a Vice President with Harvard Management Company. Earlier in his career, Francesc was an economist with the IMF in Washington D.C. He earned an M.A. in International Economics and European Studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at The Johns Hopkins University. He earned a B.A. from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Isaac Meng joins PIMCO as a Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager and will be based in the firm’s Hong Kong office. He will specialize in macroeconomic and financial analysis of China and regional linkages integral to portfolio strategy, according to the announcement.  Meng  previously was a Director and Senior Financial Economist at BNP Paribas, where he focused on China, including macroeconomics and equities. He previously worked on energy-related securities and risk management with Mirant. Earlier in his career he was a fixed income manager with the Bank of Montreal and before that a foreign-exchange trader with the Bank of China. Isaac earned an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in International Politics from the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing.

F. Javier Romo joins PIMCO in May as a Vice President and Portfolio Manager and will be based in the firm’s Newport Beach office. He will focus on relative value analysis, trading and portfolio strategy for Latin American sovereign credit, foreign exchange, and local interest rate products.  He was previously a Vice President with Citigroup, where he focused on trading hard currency bonds and credit default swaps in Latin America. Earlier in his career he was an analyst at Sandell Asset Management in New York and before that a Vice President for Morgan Stanley focused on emerging markets trading and local markets strategy.

“Our firm has long been active in emerging markets and is committed to providing outstanding value to our clients by focusing on some of the most promising investment opportunities in the global economy,” said Dr. Mohamed A. El-Erian, PIMCO’s CEO and Co-CIO. “The recruitment of three exceptional talents will further enhance an already deep and successful team, reinforcing PIMCO’s continued commitment to this important segment of the global markets.”