Newport Center in Line for Net Gain on Gross Move

The Insider has no dog in any fight between Bill Gross and whoever—but it now looks clear from this vantage point that a cadre of critics coordinated their condemnations of the cofounder and now ex-boss of Pimco in recent months. Seems they packaged it up for the New York financial press, which jumped on a sort of “ogre-on-the-coast” theme early this year and continued right up to last week’s announcement that Gross had resigned from Pimco and will start at Janus Capital this week … Gross provided some grist for the mill—the Bond King did little to dispel his reputation for being a difficult character on the trading floor, and his Total Return Fund had an uncharacteristically difficult time last year. The resignation by Gross brought other ways to look at the situation, though—signs that the withering coverage of his personality amounted to taking a giant of the financial industry for granted. Consider that European stocks fell as soon as news of Gross’ split with Pimco made it across the Atlantic during afternoon trading there on Friday. The news broke before markets opened in the U.S., where a sell-off of Treasurys set in immediately. Shares of Janus—which counts on bonds for less than 10% of its funds under management—rose by around 33% by midday, nearing a gain of $1 billion in market value. Shares of Pimco’s Munich-based parent Allianz—where bonds account for a fraction of operations—fell about 6% to around $128, trimming nearly $4 billion in value and putting its market cap at around $58.6 billion … Gross should be able to find his way over to Janus just fine, now that a couple of former colleagues from OC have trod down the path to the Denver-based firm. Richard Weil, CEO of Janus since 2010, worked with Gross at Pimco for 14 years, including 10 years as COO. Glen Schafer, who served as CFO, president and vice chairman over a 19-year career at Pimco progenitor Pacific Life, has been chairman of Janus since 2012. … Gross is staying on the coast, with Janus committed to establishing an office for him in Newport Beach, according to early reports. Details of what sort of presence the firm envisions in OC were unclear at presstime, but here’s betting that its office will be within view of the new tower that became Pimco’s HQ in Newport Center this year. Could the Irvine Company’s latest project in the increasingly upscale district—a 19-story office building at 520 Newport Center, just a stone’s throw from Pimco—fill the bill for Janus and Gross? … Another wager: Gross’ new digs will have a TV studio, allowing him to go head-to-head with his old colleagues for cable TV airtime—and giving Newport Beach another source of steady and profile-raising plugs in the financial world … The guessing game will continue this week as the dust settles and new leadership for Pimco emerges. No shortage of possibilities there, given Pimco’s move to bring in six deputy chief investment officers to work under Gross after the January resignation of CEO and co-CIO Mohamed El-Erian, which set off the chain of events that shook the firm last week … The quick math in the meantime: Newport Center just doubled the number of world-famous investment houses in its ranks.