In yesterday's Morningstar Fund Spy column, senior mutual fund analyst Katie Rushkewicz casts the spotlight on Allianz Global Investors. Rushkewicz mentioned the recent distribution change at the firm and what that might mean from a stewardship standpoint.

As previously reported, Pimco launched its own broker-dealer, Pimco Investments, this year. Sales of Pimco funds, previously handled by Allianz Global Investors Distributors, have moved to Pimco Investments. AGID continues to sell products from other AGI subsidiaries auch as AGI Capital, RCM and the solutions business.

With the distribution shift, "Allianz's non-PIMCO funds could grow -- and fees could come down -- because the funds are getting more attention from the sales staff," Rushkewicz wrote, adding that the change also "allows the AGI funds to distance themselves from the PIMCO funds, which have been very successful asset gatherers but would be susceptible to big outflows should PIMCO Total Return underperform."

But she also warned that when fund firms make asset-gathering their focus, "corporate culture -- and fundholders -- can suffer."

"The industry's leading stewards of capital focus first on serving shareholders well and delivering strong performance, both of which tend to lead to higher assets under management without a big sales and marketing push," she wrote. 

Edited by: Armie Margaret Lee


Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE