Fixed income giant PIMCO endorses UK Stewardship Code

PIMCO, the US fixed income asset management giant, has signed up to the UK’s new Stewardship Code – providing a further boost to the fledgling standard.

“As a long-term investor, PIMCO actively engages with the management of the issuers and companies in which we invest on behalf of our clients,” the firm states in a new disclosure on its web site.

It adds that its analysts and portfolio managers consider the financial implications of corporate governance risks as part of the “fundamental research process”.

In certain situations, PIMCO says it may elevate its discussions to board level or “potentially through proxy solicitation”. It rarely invests in companies without having face to face meetings with management.
The firm says it benefits “from the growing transparency” that issuers and companies are now providing. It would be prepared to act collectively withother institutional investors “when we believe it is likely to enhance our ability to engage with a company”.

It stops short on proxy voting disclosure, saying it will not disclose to third parties how it voted a proxy on behalf of a client.

Despite disclosing against the Stewardship Code, PIMCO is not a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.

PIMCO, Pacific Investment Management Co., is based in California and has $1.2trn (€904bn) in assets under management. Run by prominent figures Bill Gross and Mohamed El-Erian, PIMCO is owned by Allianz Global Investors, the funds arm of the German financial services titan.

Joachim Faber, chief executive officer of Allianz Global Investors, indicated the importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in an interview with Responsible-Investor.com last month.