Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is joining Pacific Investment Management Co. as a senior adviser, his second consulting agreement with a top money manager in as many weeks.
Bernanke will contribute his economic expertise to the firm's investment process, the Newport Beach, California-based firm said Wednesday. Bernanke previously spoke at Pimco's client conference in March and advised on the last two of its quarterly economic forums that guide investment strategy.
"We think our clients expect this of us — we've had a long history of attracting top-notch talent and contributors," Group Chief Investment Officer Daniel Ivascyn said in a telephone interview. "Obviously his experience within central banking is important at the moment, given where we may be in terms of the U.S. economic cycle, but we're looking for and excited about his ability to make broad-based contributions to our strategy."
At Pimco, which suffered record redemptions following the departure last year of co-founder Bill Gross, Bernanke will also engage with clients. The 61-year-old, who led the U.S. central bank during the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, earlier this month joined Citadel, the hedge fund run by Chicago billionaire Kenneth Griffin, to advise on monetary policy, financial markets and the global economy.
Bernanke is working with only these two firms, according to DJ Nordquist, a communications director at the Brookings Institution in Washington, where the former chairman is a distinguished fellow in residence. Bernanke remains a full-time employee at Brookings, she said.
