Pacific Investment Management Co. has taken a minority stake in financial technology firm Beacon Platform and entered into a strategic partnership.
The money manager said in a news release it will license the Beacon platform to help deliver quantitative research and analytics to its 240 portfolio managers around the globe. The platform will be integrated with PIMCO's valuation models, risk analytics and technology.
Beacon specializes in the development of cloud-based, end-to-end development and production platforms. Money managers can use the platform to build proprietary analytical models and tools connected to market and enterprise data, the release said.
A spokesman for PIMCO said financial terms and the size of the stake were not disclosed.
"Quantitative models and technology are integral to PIMCO's investment process and this strategic partnership with Beacon will allow us to continue to innovate and evolve as the industry changes," CEO Emmanuel Roman said in the release. "Our portfolio managers around the world will have broad access to Beacon's platform for faster and more efficient use of PIMCO's proprietary risk analytics and quantitative research, helping them implement investment strategies to deliver attractive returns for our clients."
The deal is part of PIMCO's broader strategic efforts to further integrate technology and quantitative research into the investment process, the release said. The firm has also said it will open an office in Austin, Texas, later in the year, in part to recruit technologists to advance the $1.8 trillion money manager's underlying investment-related infrastructure.
