PIMCO SAID TO PICK AUSTIN FOR NEXT OFFICE IN TECH PUSH

Pacific Management Investment Co. has chosen Austin, Texas, for a new office as the firm seeks to recruit tech talent and broaden marketing in the U.S.

The office will open later this year and is expected to expand to about 200 employees, mostly new hires, by 2019, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. A memo was circulated to Pimco employees Monday announcing the decision, said the people, who asked not to be identified. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Tuesday that Austin was the winning city, beating Dallas and Denver.

Pimco sought the new location, its third in the U.S., mostly because of the high cost and competition for recruiting skilled technologists to its headquarters in Newport Beach, California, and its New York office, Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel “Manny” Roman said in an April 5 interview. Financial firms including Pimco and BlackRock Inc. are increasingly turning to advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence, for portfolio management, economic forecasting, client relations and other operations.

Roman cited Charles Schwab Corp. as a model of a financial firm that established a facility outside California to recruit technologists. Since 2013, Schwab has been developing office space in Phoenix, Denver, Austin and Dallas. —