Pimco has opened a pair of dividend-focused equity funds managed by two former Thornburg Investment PMs, reports Bloomberg.

Brad Kinkelaar, who departed Thornburg in 2008, and Cliff Remily, who was with the fund until last year, will PM the Pimco EqS Dividend Fund and the Pimco Dividend and Income Builder Fund.

According a statement issued by the Newport Beach, California-based money manager, both offerings will invest in companies of any size.

The dividend-paying stocks that Kinkelaar and Remily prefer are outside the U.S. such as Asia and Latin America, and they are both "cautious" towards Europe because of the sovereign debt crisis.

"There is a more robust dividend-paying culture outside the U.S. and we can find higher yields in almost every sector and geography than in the U.S.," said Kinkelaar.

Ever Tournier will manage the fixed-income part of the fund, and another former Thornburg executive Matt Burdett will be an analyst on the fund.

In another statement issued today, Pimco executives said they will continue pursuing equity strategies in lie with the "new normal" philosophy it adopted in May 2009.

Neel Kashkari, Pimco head of new investment initiatives, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg that "this is a great strategy in any environment, and it's even more true in the new normal, given the low interest-rate environment." Kashkari was a U.S. Treasury official before the money manager hired him to lead the company's expansion in December of 2009.

Since Kashkari was hired, the $1.35 trillion-fund has gathered about $5 billion in its stock funds. Given the firms diversified offerings, Bill Gross' $244 billion Pimco Total Return Fund remains their flagship, and still the world's largest mutual fund.  

Edited by: HFD


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