Pimco Rises Under a New Team at the House That Bill Gross Built

The sun hasn’t yet lit up the California sky when Daniel Ivascyn and Emmanuel “Manny” Roman join each other at side-by-side desks on the 20th-floor trading room of Pacific Investment Management Co. From their aerie overlooking a luxury shopping mall in tony Newport Beach, the pair brace for another grinding day in the market. Together, they are in charge of the $1.77 trillion fixed-income colossus built by Bill Gross, the vaunted “Bond King.” But things are different since Gross decamped four years ago, pushed out in an awkward coup. For one thing, the era of one-man rule is over, replaced with a partnership whose approach is far less monarchical.

Teamwork is the new way at Pimco, and that’s evident right at the top. Whereas Gross once ran the show, Ivascyn and Roman embrace their shared responsibilities. Ivascyn is head of investing while Roman, as chief executive officer, runs operations. They each do different jobs, yet they somehow manage to do their different jobs together as one. And the message they signal by their proximity on the trading floor, like roped-together mountain climbers, is the importance of mutual respect and co-dependence. “It’s a shift in mindset,” says Ivascyn, 48, during a rare joint interview with Roman. He’s not just speaking about the seating arrangement. In his French-accented English, Roman, 54, chimes in, “I don’t think there’s a single important decision we don’t make together.”