Manny Roman's new boss is sharing some key tidbits as to what made Roman the right choice for taking over Pimco [profile] this fall.

"Manny was subtle and discreet in the way he moved Man Group forward," Jackie Hunt, the new asset management chief at Pimco parent Allianz, tells the Financial Times. "He has a lot of experience in terms of decisions about costs and people."

Roman is the outgoing CEO of Man Group, a publicly-traded, London-based alternative asset manager with $78.6 billion in AUM as of March 31, and he has led Man Group for three years. Newport Beach, California-based fixed income titan Pimco has $1.51 trillion in AUM (about 19 times Man Group) as of June 30. Hunt joined Munich, Germany-based Allianz's board of management on July 1 to oversee U.S. life insurance, Pimco, and Allianz Global Investors.

So, what else were Allianz and Pimco looking for in a successor for Doug Hodge?

"The openness of candidates to working with Allianz was important," Hunt tells the FT. "It was clear that we needed to be closer and have a more constructive day to day relationship."

Indeed, in the British paper's words, Hunt "promises closer ties" between the German multinational and the Southern California shop.

"You'll see Allianz being more involved in the asset management business than in the past," Hunt tells the FT. "Some of that is my personal style, some of it is contextual. I'll be more involved day to day. Allianz is aware of the need to be involved to drive a successful future for the business."

"I've come in at a time when the worst is behind us [at Pimco]," Hunt adds. "Now there's a more stable platform. There are still some outflows, but that's mainly to do with the market situation." 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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