Somebody Plans To Take Advantage Of The JOBS Act
And that someone is PIMCO. Go figure.
The firm, based in Newport Beach, Calif., is planning an expansion of its alternative-investments business in the coming months aimed at both individual and institutional clients, including potentially launching new funds invested in assets such as distressed debt in Europe.
Douglas Hodge, Pimco's chief operating officer, called alternative investments "a very important area for us" in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. He said the firm is responding to increased demand from investors of all types, as well as to changing regulations….
"The world is going to change here because of the JOBS Act," Mr. Hodge said….
Pimco this month filed a preliminary prospectus for a new liquid alternative fund called the Pimco Trends Managed Futures Strategy Fund. The fund, available to all investors, will invest in derivative instruments linked to interest rates, currencies, mortgages, credit and commodities. Mr. Hodge declined to comment on the fund, citing a regulatory period of silence following the filing.
In a sign Pimco is targeting retail investors with these more complex products, one class of this new fund has a $1,000 minimum for investment and $50 minimum for subsequent investments, similar to many of the company's other liquid alternative funds.