Rahul Seksaria, a PIMCO portfolio manager running inflation-protection strategies, was dismissed after CME Group fined him for improper trades.
Mr. Seksaria in April 2012 “orchestrated and prearranged trades in the June 2015 eurodollar futures contract opposite one of his employer's client suspense accounts, which resulted in the transfer of $2,675 from the suspense account to his personal trading account,” CME, operator of the world's biggest futures market, said on its website. CME this month barred Mr. Seksaria from using its markets until after March 19 and ordered Mr. Seksaria to repay the $2,675 as well as a fine of $65,000.
“Mr. Seksaria has been dismissed from the firm based on a violation of the firm's policy regarding personal trading,” Daniel Tarman, a spokesman for Pacific Investment Management Co., said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement. “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.”
Mr. Seksaria's last day was Dec. 19. Two small funds run by Mr. Seksaria, the PIMCO Real Income Fund 2029 Fund and the PIMCO Real Income Fund 2019 Fund, were liquidated Nov. 14, according to data posted on the firm's website. The two funds had less than $20 million in combined assets at the end of October.
Mr. Seksaria didn't return e-mails sent through his LinkedIn account. A phone number listed in the directory under his name was disconnected and PIMCO didn't provide any contact details for him.
Mr. Seksaria was a senior vice president, trader and portfolio manager at PIMCO. He focused on strategies designed to adjust for inflation, such as investing in Treasury inflation-protected securities, according to a fund filing last year. Before joining PIMCO in 2002, he worked in trading and structuring in energy and other commodities at Enron Corp.
