Pimco’s Mohamed El-Erian: The emerging markets heavyweight

MOHAMED EL-ERIAN, the chief emerging-market bond investor at Pimco in California, likes to tell the story of a trip to Asia at the beginning of 2002. A large investor there was dipping its toes into El-Erian’s market. Brazil was doing what it tries to do every January – issuing a 10-year bond. The Asian investor put in an order, received an allocation, and watched as the new bond immediately fell off a cliff, dropping three points in one day.