LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a rare summit that brings together two of the world’s most influential money managers, PIMCO co-chief executive officer and chief information officer Bill Gross and Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock Inc., met at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, and provided their candid take on the U.S. economy, the European financial crisis, Occupy Wall Street and thoughts on investing strategy. This is only the second time that the two UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni, who graduated five years apart, have met to share their perspectives on global economic and financial issues.
UCLA Anderson, in partnership with Bloomberg Television, hosted this exclusive event, an hour-long discussion moderated by Bloomberg anchor, Erik Schatzker, followed by a question and answer session with the attending audience. The program will be aired globally on Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg TV+ app for iPad on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, at various times. Video highlights of the event are available on UCLA Anderson’s event page at http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x38804.xml.
“What a fitting way to celebrate UCLA Anderson’s 75th anniversary, with an incisive conversation between two extraordinary alumni who collectively manage $4.7 trillion in assets,” says Judy Olian, dean of UCLA Anderson School of Management. “Their uniquely informed insights on global market conditions and risks couldn’t be more timely, given the current volatility of key economies, the debt crisis, and prospects for emerging markets around the world.”
Bill Gross, who runs the world’s biggest bond mutual fund at Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO), has frequently discussed today’s “new normal” – described as an era of slowing economic growth in developed markets, higher unemployment and a rise in emerging markets. Larry Fink, who co-founded BlackRock in 1988 and has built the company through acquisitions, recently told Bloomberg that clients are “confused” and fleeing risky assets due to government policies. Under Fink, BlackRock advised the Federal Reserve during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and more recently has advised the governments of Greece and Ireland on how to navigate the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
Larry Fink has been named one of the “World’s Best CEOs” by Barron’s each year since 2005, and distinguished as one of the most respected people in finance by the Financial Times, Forbes and Smart Money. He received UCLA Anderson’s 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award and has been a major player in the financial industry since earning his MBA in 1976. Since BlackRock’s inception in 1988, Mr. Fink has kept client centric solutions and innovation at the forefront of his leadership, building a once small fixed income boutique into a global asset manager with more than 9,000 employees in 27 countries. A renowned philanthropist, Mr. Fink’s generous leadership and financial contributions led to the school naming the Laurence and Lori Fink Center for Finance and Investment in his honor.
Called “the nation’s most prominent bond investor” by the New York Times and “the consigliore to the world’s financial elite” by Forbes (who counted him among “the world’s most powerful people” in 2009 and 2010), Bill Gross co-founded PIMCO and currently manages its Total Return fund, the world’s largest mutual fund, and is responsible for nearly $1.2 trillion worldwide. A former blackjack pro, Mr. Gross has said he still applies many of his gambling methods for spreading risk and calculating odds to his investment decisions. He is the author of two popular books on investing, Bill Gross on Investing and Everything You’ve Heard About Investing Is Wrong. Mr. Gross is a noted philanthropist, generous donor to UCLA Anderson, and has served as a keynote and commencement speaker at the institution.
About UCLA Anderson School of Management
Celebrating 75 years of Business Beyond Usual, UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools in the world. UCLA Anderson faculty members are globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Each year, UCLA Anderson provides a distinctive approach to management education to more than 1,800 students enrolled in its MBA, Fully-Employed MBA, Executive MBA, Global Executive MBA for Asia Pacific, Global Executive MBA for the Americas, Master of Financial Engineering, doctoral and executive education programs. Combining selective admissions, varied and innovative learning programs, and a world-wide network of 37,000 alumni, UCLA Anderson develops and prepares global leaders.
About Bloomberg
Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas. The company’s strength – delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately – is at the core of the Bloomberg Professional service, which provides real time financial information to more than 310,000 subscribers globally. Bloomberg’s enterprise solutions build on the company’s core strength, leveraging technology to allow customers to access, integrate, distribute and manage data and information across organizations more efficiently and effectively. Through Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the company provides data, news and analytics to decision makers in industries beyond finance. And Bloomberg News, delivered through the Bloomberg Professional service, television, radio, mobile, the Internet and two magazines, Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg Markets, covers the world with more than 2,300 news and multimedia professionals at 146 bureaus in 72 countries. Headquartered in New York, Bloomberg employs more than 13,000 people in 185 locations around the world.