Allianz SE received confirmation that William H. Gross, Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO, a subsidiary of Allianz, has resigned today with immediate effect. PIMCO has activated its succession plan and will announce a successor within the next several hours.

While we are grateful for everything Bill contributed to building our firm and delivering value to PIMCO’s clients, over the course of this year it became increasingly clear that the firm’s leadership and Bill have fundamental differences about how to take PIMCO forward.

As part of our responsibilities to our clients, employees and parent, PIMCO has been developing a succession plan for some time to ensure that the firm is well prepared to manage a seamless leadership transition in its Portfolio Management team. Earlier this year, the firm established a new portfolio management leadership structure that reflects our long-held belief that the best approach for PIMCO’s clients and our firm is to evolve our investment leadership structure to a team of seasoned, highly skilled investors overseeing all areas of PIMCO’s investment activities.”