Pimco fires fund manager after exchange fines him for improper trades

Pacific Investment Management Co. said it dismissed the money manager of two small funds after he was fined by a self-regulatory body for making improper trades.

Rahul Seksaria, who ran two Pimco funds that offered inflation-protection strategies, last week was barred from trading for three months by CME Group Inc., the owner of the Chicago Board of Trade and other exchanges, for trades dating to 2012. The alleged profit was $2,675.

Pimco disclosed his dismissal Tuesday.

“Mr. Seksaria has been dismissed from the firm based on a violation of the firm’s policy regarding personal trading,” said Daniel Tarman, a Pimco spokesman. “While the amount involved in this matter was small, Pimco’s code of ethics mandates that all employees must abide by the highest standards of personal and professional conduct.”

The two funds Seksaria had run, Pimco Real Income 2029 and Pimco Real Income 2019, were liquidated Nov. 14, according to Pimco’s website.

On Dec. 17, CME levied sanctions against Seksaria that also included a $65,000 fine and an order to return the gain. It alleged that he profited personally in 2012 from currency trading in euros by taking a position against that held in Pimco client accounts, according to the CME website.

The fines were part of a settlement after Seksaria waived his right to a hearing, CME said.

Seksaria didn’t respond to a request for comment. A Pimco spokeswoman said she didn’t have contact information for him.

The unusual public dismissal is something of footnote to a tumultuous year for Pimco, which had been roiled by investor defections and management turmoil including the noisy and abrupt departure in September of its high-profile fund manager, Bill Gross.

Investor outflows from Pimco’s signature Total Return fund jumped to more than $32 billion in October alone, but have since stabilized, according to Morningstar Inc., the Chicago mutual-fund research firm.

Twitter: @deanstarkman