Highlights

Targets steady returns, even in times of market distress, by adhering to an interest rate mandate focused on limiting downside risk potential

Invests primarily in high quality short- to intermediate-duration callable structures, dynamically adjusting duration to pursue enhanced after-tax yields relative to money market and other traditional cash strategies

Strives to maximize the tax-efficiency of portfolios through a systematic approach to tax loss harvesting and the option of National or California state-specification

Leverages our specialized separately managed accounts (SMA) team, which seeks to provide best-in-class service tailored to the needs of SMA clients

Investment Process

Utilizing our disciplined investment research process, Gurtin Municipal Bond Management, a PIMCO company, aims to uncover value and protect principal in clients’ municipal investment portfolios through comprehensive credit and quantitative research. Leveraging our quantitative research to calculate what we believe are more accurate valuations of non-standard (e.g., callable) security structures, we identify attractive investment opportunities. By way of holistic fundamental credit research, we also aim to select securities possessing underlying credit strength that may be misaligned with market perception, positioning us to capture alpha while mitigating downside risk.

Municipal Bond Philosophy

Taking a 360-degree view, we seek to maximize tax-efficient income and help preserve principal by investing in high quality municipal bonds. Our muni experts identify opportunities and potential risks in the municipal bond market using fundamental bottom-up analysis informed by PIMCO’s top-down global macroeconomic outlook. By applying institutional discipline to a muni market traditionally comprised of smaller investors, we believe our muni platform is distinctly positioned to capitalize on market inefficiencies to unlock potential in clients’ muni portfolios. Supported by our specialized team of muni SMA experts, our muni SMA clients may additionally benefit from our belief that individual clients should receive individualized service.

With a focus on limiting price volatility, the Stability strategy has historically generated more stable returns relative to the broad municipal market during periods of volatility. To date, the strategy has never reported negative returns over any 12-month rolling period.* In pursuit of a stable return profile, portfolio managers leverage both quantitative analysis and our proprietary technology to identify what we consider the ideal mix of securities. This security mix is designed to meet a mandate of positive total returns if, over the course of the next 12 months, interest rates increase by 100 basis points (bps) and only minimal losses if interest rates increase by 200 bps over the same period.

With return of principal as the first priority, the Stability strategy also seeks to generate return on principal. Strategically allocating to callable and noncallable municipal bonds that meet our low volatility mandate, we pursue returns above those of cash and traditional cash investments, such as Treasury Bills, money market funds, and bank certificates of deposit. With higher after-tax return potential — and anchored by our strict downside risk mandate — we believe this strategy is an attractive solution for investors looking to put cash to work.