PIMCO targets Asia retail market

PIMCO, the Newport Beach, California-based bond fund house, is targeting retail investors in Asia (ex-Japan) for the first time, says Brian Baker, CEO and director at PIMCO Asia in Singapore. PIMCO already manages $8 billion of Asian institutional client money and wants to expand to retail. “We’re testing the waters,” he says, by teaming up with distributor HSBC to offer a clone of the firm’s US flagship product, the Total Return fund.