Mohamed El-Erian is joining Allianz, the German insurer, as chief economic advisor after his sudden departure as chief executive and co-chief investment officer at subsidiary Pimco.

Michael Diekmann, chief executive of Allianz, said at a results conference in Munich yesterday that EL-Erian will become chief economic advisor on a part-time basis.

Diekmann said El-Erian’s decision to leave allowed Pimco, the California-based fixed income manager, to seize the opportunity to put its management on a broader footing after years of very rapid expansion. “The appointment of six deputy chief investment officers also reflects PIMCO’s broader setup in the investment area,” he added.

The six deputy chief investment officers are Mark Kiesel, global head of the corporate bond portfolio management group; Virginie Maisonneuve, global head of equities, Scott Mather, head of global portfolio management; Mihir Worah, head of the real return portfolio management team; Dan Ivascyn, managing director in the Newport Beach office and Andrew Balls, head of European portfolio management.

Allianz said it its fourth quarter results that Pimco had net outflows of €19.7bn in 2013, a reversal of the net inflows of €114.1bn in 2012.

Diekmann said: “Following an exceptionally good first half-year, the debate surrounding the timing and extent of a tapering in the Fed’s bond purchases in the second half of the year led to significant net outflows for traditional Pimco products. Non-traditional products, on the other hand, generated inflows of over €41bn for Pimco in 2013.”

As a result Pimco’s assets under management fell from €1,232bn in 2012 to €1,114 last year.

Dieter Wemmer, chief financial officer at Allianz, said in the results presentation that Pimco’s revenues grew from €5.35bn in 2012 to €5.62bn in 2013 and profits rose from €2.62bn to €2.74bn over the same time period.

Pimco’s share of European assets under management increased from 18.6% in 2012 to 20.5% in 2013 while the proportion of American assets fell to 69.3% from 71% over the same period.