Bernanke becomes bond giant Pimco’s latest major signing
BEN BERNANKE the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has joined bond giant Pimco as a senior advisor to the firm.
The news comes after he announced last week that he would be advising hedge fund Citadel. He also works full-time for the Brookings Institute.
In an interview Bernanke said that he would not be taking up any more advisory roles with Wall Street firms. “There won’t be any more,” he said. “They [Pimco and Citadel] prefer not having me consult too many firms and I personally think working with two firms will be plenty,” he added.
The move is not without controversy. Competitors have previously said that under Bernanke’s leadership, the Fed shared too close a relationship with Pimco.
Hitting back at the critics, Bernanke said that he never met Pimco’s legendary co-founder Bill Gross, who quit the firm for rival Janus Capital in September last year.
Bernanke also said that he had not advised his new consultancy client on whether they should expect an interest rate rise. “No, I haven’t given them any advice on that. I will be speaking broadly about the economy and markets,” he commented.
Under his chairmanship the Fed did hire Pimco and three other major Wall Street firms to buy up mortgage-backed-securities to help keep interest rates low in 2008.
Bernanke is the latest high profile signing to Pimco. In June 2014, Geraldine Sundstrom, the European hedge-funder, joined them.
It has not been revealed how much Bernanke will be paid, or if he will receive any equity.