Allianz Global Investors Management Partners has rebranded as Allianz Global Investors Capital following the merger of three investment firms.
Two years ago, the business decided to merge three of its boutique firms including Oppenheimer Capital, Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management and NFJ Investment Group.
"To ensure greater efficiency for the business we decided to group together the sales and distribution businesses of each of the investment firms. The investment teams, however, remain untouched," Allianz Global Investors managing director Kathy Rich said.
As part of the restructure the firm closed Nicholas-Applegate's Australian office, resulting in the departures of marketing and distribution staff John Hamer and Melanie Douglas.
Rich subsequently took on the job of managing client relationships for the firm.
Rich said there are issues regarding the absence of local marketing staff.
"There are problems with not having on-the-ground marketing staff. However, we remain committed to the Australian market and I will be making constant visits to our clients," Rich said.
The firm also had staff departures in its Oppenheimer Capital business. In March, the entire fixed income team led by Jerry Thunelius left the firm.
Allianz Global Investors subsequently restructured the team, appointing Doug Forsyth as managing director.
The firm will be looking to launch a number of investment products locally on the back of the rebrand.
"We will be launching an emerging market fund. The fund is a quantitative strategy and invests only in Asian equities," Rich said.
The firm will also be looking at introducing strategies that give investors exposure to high yield investments and large cap equity stocks.
