Pimco to run Allianz Real Estate, forming US$100 billion unit

Los Angeles

PACIFIC Investment Management Co (Pimco) is taking over management of Allianz Real Estate, forming a combined unit with US$100 billion in assets.

Pimco parent Allianz Group has a real estate portfolio worth over 70 billion euros (S$110 billion) in Europe, the US and the Asia-Pacific region, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

Pimco, which managed US$1.91 trillion as of Dec 31 last year, is best known as a fixed-income manager and will oversee the combined real estate unit under its private strategies platform.

Pimco has been seeking to expand beyond its core bond business as yields have fallen and fund management fees narrow industrywide.

Its private strategies - which are available to institutional and high-net-worth investors - include hedge funds, distressed debt, real estate debt and other illiquid alternative products.

"Bringing two high-performing, complementary specialist parts of the business together puts us in a position to provide customers a more comprehensive solution in real estate capabilities and strengthens our position in alternatives, where we are already among the top 10 global players," said Jackie Hunt, a member of the Allianz board of management.

Allianz, a Munich-based insurer that also operates as an asset-management company, acquired the California-based Pimco in 2000. BLOOMBERG