Person to Watch
Bill Gross
Gross made the biggest people-on-the-move news in the finance industry this year, leaving Pacific Investment Management Co. for much-smaller rival Janus Capital Group. We said last year that we’d watch how Gross maneuvers his giant bond house as the Federal Reserve moves to wind down its bond-buying program. Pimco’s flagship Total Return Fund, which Gross managed until his departure in September, had a sluggish performance throughout the year, logging a 4.8% return against the benchmark return of 5.6%. The fund saw steady outflows, including $27.5 billion in October and $9.5 billion in November.
Gross now oversees Janus’ unconstrained bond fund and has an office at 520 Newport Center Drive.
He wasn’t the only exec from Pimco who made high-profile moves in 2014. Mohamed El-Erian, former chief executive whom Gross had identified as his “heir apparent,” left early this year, while staying in an advisory role with Pimco’s parent, Allianz SE.
Company to Watch
Saigon National Bank
Saigon National Bank had its first profitable quarter in its nine-year history, notching net income of $480,000 in the fourth quarter of 2013. Executives at the Westminster-based community bank weren’t available to comment, but the Business Journal had Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. documents for analysis. Reports indicate that the bank got an unusual boost from “additional noninterest income” of $722,000 in the quarter.
It’s unclear what accounted for the noninterest income, and it seems to have been a one-time deal in any case—the bank went back to losses in following quarters and had $919,000 in red ink for the first three quarters of 2014.
Saigon National’s assets have fluctuated a bit, hitting $52 million in March and dropping to about $47 million as of the end of September.
The bank still has yet to make a payment on the $1.5 million it borrowed from the government through the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program. A regulatory order forbids it from making any dividend payments, including TARP payments, which are considered a form of dividends.
