PIMCO GIS Glb Hi Yld Bd E USD Acc |



by Jeana Marie Doubell

Pimco GIS Global High Yield Bond follows a solid investment process, but the members of its management team need more time together in their new roles. Morningstar has enhanced the process for assessing a fund’s alpha opportunity, a key component in the Morningstar Medalist Rating. More of this strategy's Medalist Ratings than usual may be impacted with the update, even in the absence of changes to pillar ratings or fund costs. David Forgash took over this strategy, and the leadership of Pimco’s high-yield bond team, from his predecessor Andrew Jessop in April 2023. Forgash is an experienced investor who had been part of this strategy’s management team since 2019. However, he was not a key decision-maker here prior to his promotion, nor does he have a public track record running global high-yield bond mandates, having most recently overseen Pimco’s leveraged loan business in recent years. Nonetheless, this management team boasts significant firepower. Seasoned global credit specialist Sonali Pier, who oversees several high-yield mandates and the best-in-class multisector credit strategy Pimco Diversified Income, assists Forgash here alongside European high-yield expert Charles Watford. The team is settling into its new configuration, but more time is needed to gain conviction in its ability to work together at this strategy. The managers have largely retained Jessop’s disciplined and conservative approach to high-yield bond investing but have made some tweaks. They formalized a system for flagging and discussing deteriorating credits, while also increasing the size of individual credit bets (now owning up to 75 basis points of active exposure in their highest-conviction ideas, up from roughly 50 basis points in the past) to emphasize their favorite bottom-up ideas more strongly. The strategy, however, remains focused on the higher-quality end of the high-yield spectrum, as represented by its ICE Bank of America Merrill Lynch BB-B Rated Developed Markets High Yield Constrained Index. That profile explains much of the vehicle's peer-relative performance: It typically behaves defensively during credit market downdrafts and can lag during rallies (though the team's bond-picking prowess has at times helped it capitalize on rising credit markets, too, as was the case in 2017 or 2022’s fourth quarter). Forgash’s tenure has gotten off to a decent start; from April 2023 through March 2025, the strategy’s 8.9% return slightly lagged its ICE Bank of America Merrill Lynch BB-B Rated Developed Markets High Yield Constrained Index’s 9.1% return but landed ahead of the average peer’s 8.3% return in the global high-yield bond Morningstar Category. While the strategy’s long-term track record is strong, we need more time to build confidence in the new team at the helm here. |
Morningstar Pillars | |
People | Average |
Parent | Above Average |
Process | Above Average |
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