It is no secret that bond fund giant Pimco is building out a team on the equities side of the fence.

On Wednesday, the Newport Beach, California-based firm unveiled the newest faces on its team: Tim Bruenjes, Vlad Cara, Ewan Markson-Brown, Amit Mehta, Nate Velarde, Niall Hession and Eden Simmer.

Simmer is in New York and Bruenjes is in Singapore. The other new hires are in London.

Company Press Release

PIMCO Continues Expansion of Active Equities Team With Hiring of Seasoned Investment ProfessionalsNew hires add expertise in emerging markets and global equities

NEWPORT BEACH, California. (March 3, 2011) -- PIMCO, a leading global investment management firm, is continuing to build out its active equities platform with the hiring of seasoned investment professionals with deep expertise in emerging markets and global equities.

"Recruiting the best talent is critical to the expanded offering to our clients of PIMCO quality equities solutions," said Neel Kashkari, Managing Director and head of PIMCO's New Investment Initiatives who is based in Newport Beach, California.

"Our emerging markets equity strategy combines PIMCO's unparalleled global macro expertise and the investing skills of seasoned emerging markets equity professionals to offer clients a compelling opportunity in the space," said Masha Gordon, an executive vice president in the London office who leads the emerging markets equity portfolio management team.

The hires are:

Tim Bruenjes, a senior vice president and senior equity trader in Singapore, joined March 1.

Vlad Cara, a senior vice president and equity analyst in the London office, will join in March to work on the emerging markets equity team preparing to launch the PIMCO emerging markets strategies.

Ewan Markson-Brown, a senior vice president and equity analyst in the London office will also work on the emerging markets team. He will join in March.

Amit Mehta, a senior vice president and equity analyst in the London office, is also a senior member of the emerging markets team. He joined the firm in February.

Nate Velarde, a senior vice president and equity analyst in the London office will work on the Pathfinder deep value team. He will join in April.

Niall Hession, an equity trader in London joined in February.

Eden Simmer, an equity trader in New York, joined in October, 2010.

Added Kashkari: �We are building an equity platform that is integrated with the rest of PIMCO's investment process, so it is essential that we find people who are a good cultural fit for PIMCO. These hires add to the extraordinary, seasoned equity talent we have already recruited, including portfolio managers, research analysts, traders, product managers, compliance officers, and technology and operations specialists."

Professional biographies:

Tim Bruenjes
Bruenjes joined PIMCO in March as a Senior Vice President and will be based in Singapore. He was previously a Vice President with Deutsche Asset Management Asia, where he was the Head Trader for Asian equity markets with specialist coverage of Hong Kong, Korea Taiwan, Singapore, China Mainland, India and Asian Program trading. He was previously a Vice President at DWS Investments, the mutual fund arm of Deutsche Asset Management.

Vlad Cara
Cara will join PIMCO in March as a Senior Vice President and will be based in London. He joins from Pictet Asset Management, where he was an investment manager from 2007 until 2011, contributing to management of the global emerging markets fund and global equity mandates. He has also previously worked for Caterpillar Investment Management, AG Edwards, Citigroup and KPMG. Cara has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BSc in finance and accounting from Western Kentucky University, US.

Ewan Markson-Brown
Markson-Brown will join PIMCO in March as a Senior Vice President. Between 2006 and 2011, he was a lead manager on two funds at Newton Investment Management (the Asian Equity Fund and the Income Fund) and a manager on several other Newton funds. Markson-Brown has also worked for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in a variety of roles in research and portfolio management. Much of his focus has been on the Asia-Pacific region. Markson-Brown graduated from Jesus College, Oxford, with a BA in politics, philosophy and economics.

Amit Mehta
Mehta joined PIMCO as a Senior Vice President in February. Previously, he was a senior investment manager with the global emerging markets team at Pictet Asset Management in the UK, responsible for coverage of EM financials. He was also the lead portfolio manager responsible for a number of separate global emerging markets client portfolios. Mehta had also previously worked for Insight Investment, Morgan Stanley, KPMG and Robson Rhodes. He has a BSc in Accounting and financial analysis from Warwick University in the UK and is a chartered accountant.

Nate Velarde
Velarde will join PIMCO in April as a Senior Vice President and will be based in London with PIMCO�s Pathfinder equity team. From 2004 until 2011, Velarde worked for Nuveen Investments, based in Los Angeles, California, where he was a Managing Director and previously served as Research Director and an equity analyst. He has also worked at Trust Company of the West, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Brenner Securities and Merrill Lynch. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA in economics from the University of Chicago.

Niall Hession
Hession joined PIMCO in February as a trader based in the firm�s London office. Previously, Hession was an equity trader at Pioneer Investments, based in Dublin, trading equities and equity-linked securities across portfolios. He has also worked for IFS in Dublin. He has an MSc in finance from the Unversity of Ulster and a Bachelor of Commerce in economics from the National University of Ireland in Galway.

Eden Simmer
Simmer joined PIMCO in October 2010 as a trader based in New York. From 2008 until 2010, Simmer worked at Deutsche Asset Management�s RREEF Alternative Assets group in Chicago as a trader of REITs and foreign exchange. Simmer also worked for ABN Amro as a foreign exchange and derivatives trader. Simmer has a BBA in finance and economics from the University of Iowa.

About PIMCO
PIMCO is a leading global investment management firm, with offices in 10 countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1971, PIMCO offers a wide range of innovative solutions to help millions of investors worldwide meet their needs. Our goal is to provide attractive returns while maintaining a strong culture of risk management and long-term discipline. PIMCO is owned by Allianz Global Investors, a subsidiary of the Munich-based Allianz S.E., a leading global diversified financial services provider.

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