We all know that former TARP czar Neel Kashkari recently left his job as global head of equities at PIMCO [profile] -- purportedly to pursue a job in California politics.

But what if Kashkari's departure had less to do with ambitions of being the next governator and more to do with Pimco's problematic record with equities?

That's the premise being explored in InvestmentNews.

The paper reports that "investment management consultants and executive recruiters speculate that Kashkari left in part because he had a tough time building an equities business at a huge player in the fixed-income world."

According to InvestmentNews, Pimco's three-year effort in equities began in early 2010, shortly after Kashkari was brought on board. Since then, equity assets under management totaled only $9.9 billion as of Feb. 15, "not even 1% of the firm's $2 trillion in assets," according to the paper.

The paper quotes Morningstar analyst Karin Anderson as saying that "given the equity funds' 'peripheral' role in PIMCO's overall assets, she could understand why Kashkari might have felt frustrated and decided to leave."

“Was there really much more for him to do?” she is quoted as asking by the paper.

For more of the analysis, turn to InvestmentNews. 

Edited by: Tommy Fernandez


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