PIMCO to welcome new head of Australia
PIMCO has confirmed the departure of its local managing director and named the successor to take up the position.
Rob Mead has served at the fund manager for more than two decades and is currently its managing director in the Sydney office, head of Australia, and co-head of Asia-Pacific portfolio management.
He was previously an executive vice president of the PIMCO Group, based internationally between Munich and London.
Mead will be retiring from PIMCO at the end of the year, and will continue as chairman of PIMCO Australia and adviser to the firm.
“Rob’s retirement caps a 35-year career in the investment industry, with more than two decades of that at PIMCO. Since joining the firm in 2003, he has served in roles in Munich, London and Sydney, and more recently has led our APAC portfolio management team during a particularly successful period of growth for the broader APAC region,” the fund manager stated.
Prior to joining PIMCO, he held managing director and head of European fixed income positions at Citigroup Asset Management, based in London and New York, and was also a vice president at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
In anticipation of Mead’s exit, the investment manager confirmed Sam Watkins, executive vice president and head of PIMCO’s business in Australia and New Zealand, will take on the head of Australia role.
Tomoya Masanao, managing director in the Tokyo office and portfolio manager, who is also a co-head of APAC portfolio management with Mead, will assume the role of sole head of APAC portfolio management and continue his position as co-head of PIMCO Japan.
Meanwhile, Adam Bowe, executive vice president and portfolio manager at PIMCO, will become the new Australian head of portfolio management. As part of the transition, he will continue as chair and a permanent member of the Asia-Pacific portfolio committee.
PIMCO added: “A testament to Rob’s leadership has been the successful buildout and development of our APAC portfolio management team and his eye for developing the next generation of PIMCO portfolio managers.
“Over the last several years, Rob has partnered closely with Adam Bowe, executive vice president and portfolio manager in the Sydney office, to ensure a seamless transition of his Australian PM responsibilities and PM team management responsibilities.”
The company also announced this month that Kanish Chugh, who took up an account manager role in July 2024 at PIMCO, has become its head of exchange-traded fund (ETF) sales for Australia.
Prior to this, he spent a decade at ETF provider Global X, initially joining when the firm was called ETF Securities, and worked in a variety of roles including co-head of sales. This culminated in him being appointed as head of distribution in September 2022.
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Jasmine Siljic
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