Bill Gross

The days of easy double-digit gains in stocks and other securities are coming to an end, says PIMCO's Bill Gross, the best-known bond manager in the world - but bonds are still “critical components of an investment portfolio.” Consider the classic 1963 Steve McQueen film “The Great Escape,” in which American POWs are trapped in a German prison camp during World War II. There, “the living conditions were OK … but certainly not what...

The gig: Gross, 53, is chief executive of Pasadena's Idealab, a business incubator that has spawned close to 100 companies since Gross founded it in 1996. Idealab companies span a range of industries, including renewable-energy firms like ESolar and Energy Cache, and well-known online services such as photo site Picasa, which was acquired by Google Inc. in 2004, and CitySearch, which merged with TicketMaster Online in 1998. Idealab is now developing nine separate companies at its headquarters on Union Street.

Bond fund manager Bill Gross and his wife, Sue, have donated $20 million to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, the largest gift in the Newport Beach hospital's history. Hoag officials say they think it is the biggest donation ever to an Orange County hospital and one of the largest to a Southern California hospital not connected to a university. The money will go toward construction of a seven-story tower that will bear their names and focus on women's health.

The days of easy double-digit gains in stocks and other securities are coming to an end, says Pacific Investment Management Co.'s Bill Gross, one of the world's best-known bond managers. But bonds, he said, are still "critical components of an investment portfolio. " In an investment letter posted on Pimco's website, Gross drew an analogy to the classic 1963 Steve McQueen film "The Great Escape," in which American prisoners of war are trapped in a German prison camp during World War II. There, "the living conditions were OK," Gross said, "but certainly not what they were used to on the other side of the lines.

Bill Gross of Newport Beach-based Pimco Funds has been putting his money where his mouth is. Gross, chief investment officer at Pimco and manager of the world's largest bond fund, spent more than $5 million of his own money to buy shares of so-called closed-end municipal bond funds in the fourth quarter, joining portfolio managers at other fund companies who have made similar purchases to take advantage of share prices that fell below the funds' net asset value.

When the U.S. government needed expert help in evaluating the bonds that caused the 2008 financial crisis, there were only two men it could turn to. Larry Fink, the founder of investment giant BlackRock Inc., and Bill Gross, the founder of Pacific Investment Management Co., are the generally acknowledged kings of the bond universe. Together, the companies they run hold approximately 7.5% of all outstanding bonds. The $1.2 trillion managed by BlackRock and the $1.1 trillion at Pimco dwarf the holdings of the next largest bond players, according to data from Pensions & Investments.

Fresh out of college, Bill Gross parlayed $200 into $10,000 at the Las Vegas blackjack tables, and he lives on Monte Carlo Drive in Laguna Beach. Sound like the kind of guy you'd want handling your investment portfolio? In fact, William H. Gross--Ohio native, Vietnam veteran, Duke University undergrad, UCLA MBA--has become one of the nation's most trusted asset managers.

People seek fame and fortune in the stock market all the time. But in the bond market, those two usually have been mutually exclusive. Investors whose goal is to master the extraordinary tedium of bonds typically don't seek the limelight -- and that's probably all for the best. There have been two exceptions in the modern era, and both are Southern Californians.

Bill Gross' Internet incubator Idealab launches a new company every few weeks. But even as the number of Idealab companies approaches 30, Gross is still searching for more entrepreneurial outlets. Last week, he invested in EHatchery, an Idealab knockoff based in Atlanta that aims to develop Internet companies in "Silicon South."

Mutual fund giant Pacific Investment Management Co. is planning to build new digs in Newport Beach. The proposed complex, designed by architect Henry Cobb, will include a conference center and a state-of-the-art trading floor, according to developer Irvine Co., which will oversee the project. The development will be about twice the size of Pimco's current 192,000-square-foot home, which is also in Newport Beach, the developer said. Pimco is headquartered at Pacific Financial Plaza in two contiguous buildings.

The days of easy double-digit gains in stocks and other securities are coming to an end, says PIMCO's Bill Gross, the best-known bond manager in the world - but bonds are still “critical components of an investment portfolio.” Consider the classic 1963 Steve McQueen film “The Great Escape,” in which American POWs are trapped in a German prison camp during World War II. There, “the living conditions were OK … but certainly not what...

When the U.S. government needed expert help in evaluating the bonds that caused the 2008 financial crisis, there were only two men it could turn to. Larry Fink, the founder of investment giant BlackRock Inc., and Bill Gross, the founder of Pacific Investment Management Co., are the generally acknowledged kings of the bond universe. Together, the companies they run hold approximately 7.5% of all outstanding bonds. The $1.2 trillion managed by BlackRock and the $1.1 trillion at Pimco dwarf the holdings of the next largest bond players, according to data from Pensions & Investments.

As the U.S. Treasury gets set to issue an additional $66 billion in notes and bonds this week, Pimco bond guru Bill Gross has a message for potential buyers: Stay away. Gross, who manages the $236-billion Pimco Total Return bond fund in Newport Beach, in February sold the last of the mammoth portfolio's Treasury bonds after saying interest rates were too low to justify holding Uncle Sam's debt. Now he has gone a step further, actively betting that the government securities will lose value.

Mutual fund giant Pacific Investment Management Co. is planning to build new digs in Newport Beach. The proposed complex, designed by architect Henry Cobb, will include a conference center and a state-of-the-art trading floor, according to developer Irvine Co., which will oversee the project. The development will be about twice the size of Pimco's current 192,000-square-foot home, which is also in Newport Beach, the developer said. Pimco is headquartered at Pacific Financial Plaza in two contiguous buildings.

Bond guru Bill Gross hasn't been shy about saying that he sees no value in U.S. Treasury bonds at current interest rates. Now, he has jettisoned the last of those holdings from his $237-billion Pimco Total Return fund, the world's biggest bond fund. The portfolio, managed by Pacific Investment Management Co. in Newport Beach, cut its U.S. government-bond holdings to zero in February from 12% of assets at the end in January, according to Pimco data. The U.S. government-related category as defined by Pimco can include conventional Treasury bonds, securities of other government agencies, Treasury inflation-protected bonds and interest-rate swaps.

The guessing game about who will replace Lawrence Summers as President Obama's top economic advisor is ramping up. With Wall Street and Washington fond of speculation, the names of two high-powered Southern Californians surfaced Tuesday to add to a growing list of possible successors for Summers as director of the National Economic Council. The latest buzz was that Obama would tap one of two big names from Newport Beach mutual fund giant Pacific Investment Management Co.: widely regarded fund manager Bill Gross or Chief Executive Mohamed El-Erian.

Who will make big news in the business world this year? Who will emerge from relative obscurity to become a major player? To start the new year, Times business reporters selected people from their beats who they believe will be among those to watch in 2000--in Southern California, across the country and around the world. Some are well known, having made big news in previous years. Others are not exactly household names but nevertheless are likely to make a major impact in their fields.

The world's best-known bond investor has given a vote of confidence to California -- the state with the nation's worst credit rating. Bill Gross, managing director of Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co., bought $445,200 worth of Pimco California Municipal Income shares after their value declined in late April, according to recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The muni income fund buys bonds issued by state and local governments in California.

Bond king Bill Gross of Newport Beach-based Pimco was named Tuesday by Morningstar Inc. its bond mutual fund "manager of the decade." The financial research firm also named Bruce Berkowitz, who heads the Miami-based Fairholme Fund, domestic stock fund manager of the decade. David Herro, chief of the Oakmark International and Oakmark International Small Cap funds in Chicago, got the nod as the decade's top manager of foreign-stock funds. Karen Dolan, director of fund analysis at Morningstar in Chicago, said the firm made its choices based partly on the managers' above-average returns in the last 10 years, while also factoring in the size of the funds they managed and how well they managed risk.

The hundreds of glass mirrors break the dusty field in Lancaster, a sea of silver in a landscape of brown. When switched on for the first time today at an opening gala with investors, local politicians and others, they'll make up the first operational solar tower energy facility in the United States. They reflect the sun into a tower in the middle of the field, boiling water into steam that travels through pipes to power a turbine and create electricity.