UK / ITALY – Pimco Europe, the European arm of $220bn (€250bn) US active fixed income specialist company, Pimco, has secured two specialist investment grade US bond mandates from Italian banking group, Fondi Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) worth €300m.

There will be two portfolios to manage, one will consist of US $ hedged backed to Europe short term fixed income and the other of more straight forward US core bonds. There are no details disclosed about the value of each portfolio.

Pimco were able to land the deal through its affiliation with Italian insurance company RAS, which is part of the Allianz group which acquired 70% of Pimco in 1999. The two companies will work as partners in managing the two mandates.

A spokesperson at Pimco points out the difficulty in penetrating the Italian market. “No mandates are generally awarded outside Italy, because of a severe regulatory structure governing the management of Italian assets.”

Says Joe McDevitt, head of Pimco Europe in London : “Our affiliation with RAS really does provide us with the solution. Italian foundations are increasingly using global consultants in order to get a better understanding of international asset managers.”

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