Is PIMCO too powerful?

Fortune says this about Bill Gross, the outspoken founder of PIMCO: "Is the bond king too big? Does he have Washington--and us--over a barrel?" No doubt it had a great 2008, a year in which many fund managers faltered. It bet correctly on mortgage bonds backed by Fannie and Freddie and outperformed its bond fund peers. PIMCO, of course also manages the Federal Reserve's $251 billion commercial paper program, and it is one of four asset managers that has been selected to manage the government's $500 billion program to purchase mortgage-backed securities. 

"In short," writes Fortune, "thanks to the missteps of its rivals as well as its own success, PIMCO has become essential to the functioning of the credit markets--and the revival of the economy." That has some people nervous, suggesting that Gross is too powerful when it comes to the credit markets and regulators, and he may be pursuing conflicting agendas.   

For more:
- here's the Fortune article

Related Articles:
PIMCO news from FierceFinance