PIMCO is one of the largest asset managers in the world. As of June, PIMCO manages $2.20 trillion in assets, including $1.68 trillion in third-party client assets.PIMCO manages assets for central banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, corporations, individual investors and more. Its diversified approach spans the spectrum of traditional and alternative assets and apparently includes crypto as well.
According to a report by CNBC, PIMCO is dabbling in crypto and expects to dive deeper into digital assets. PIMCO chief investment officer Daniel Ivascyn, said that “digital assets have the potential to disrupt the financial industry:”
“Now we’re looking at potentially trading certain cryptocurrencies as part of our trend-following strategies or quant-oriented strategies, then doing more work on the fundamental side. So this will be a gradual process where we spent a lot of time on the internal diligence side speaking to investors. And we’ll take baby steps in an area that’s rapidly growing.”
Part of the reason PIMCO is interested in crypto is that they do not want to fall into the trap of ignoring the new while being anchored in the past. Ivascyn said PIMCO is “thinking about scenarios where this could take us to ensure that we are competitively prepared to deal with what’s a rapidly changing environment that offers a pretty significant value proposition, particularly for younger generations, or the new generation of the investment community.”
Bitcoin, the most popular crypto, hit new all-time highs today following the launch of a Bitcoin futures ETF. Some industry observers believe spot-priced crypto ETFs are around the corner – a move that should help to drive retail interest in crypto. Additionally, inflation is compelling investors to look for hedges against rising prices. Bitcoin issuance is capped and frequently compared to gold.
Then there is the fast-evolving crypto ecosystem of digital securities, as well as crypto assets that have utility functions.
PIMCO’s interest is another indicator of the growing acceptance of crypto by old guard finance even while securities regulators dither in updating analog rules.