Pimco Funds and Nicholas-Applegate may not remain part of Allianz AG past 2004, according to news report. The German insurer is reportedly mulling over a spin-off of its asset management unit, Allianz Dresdner Asset Management. The spin-off could take the form of an initial public offering as a tracking stock or a private-equity sale, reports Money Management Letter.

Any deal would likely take place by early 2004, the newsletter reports investment bankers as saying. The unit manages some $360 billion in assets. It consists of PIMCO, Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management, Oppenheimer Capital, Dresdner RCM Global Investors, NFJ Investment Group, and Cadence Capital Management.

The report says the firm is considering the sale as part of a reassessment of its decision to build the asset management business.  

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