Pimco MD steps down less than a year after rejoining firm

New York

PAUL McCulley has stepped down from his role as managing director and chief economist at Pacific Investment Management Co less than a year after rejoining the firm.

"Paul returned to Pimco last May after being recruited by Bill Gross, with whom he had a close friendship and association for more than 20 years," Daniel Ivascyn, Pimco's group chief investment officer, said in a statement on Friday.

Mr McCulley's last day at the Newport Beach, California-based firm will be Feb 28.

The US$1.68 trillion money manager said this month that it has hired Joachim Fels, former chief economist at Morgan Stanley, as global economic adviser and a managing director, a move that had raised questions about Mr McCulley's role at Pimco, a unit of German insure…