Was Bill Gross worth $300m a year?

比尔格罗斯(Bill Gross)一年价值3亿美元？

This emerges as the central question in his explosive lawsuit against Pimco, in which the famed bond investor invites readers to see the events leading up to his exit from the asset manager as a fight over its outsize bonus pool.

这是格罗斯令人震惊地起诉美国太平洋投资管理公司(PIMCO)的案件中的核心问题——在该案中，这位著名的债券投资者希望让读者明白，导致他离职的事件其实是一场围绕超大规模奖金池的争斗。

Mr Gross’s entitlement to a 20 per cent slice of the pool, which totalled $1.3bn in 2013 and almost as much again last year, inspired jealousy among underlings and ultimately led them to plot to oust him, the suit contends.

格罗斯在起诉书中表示，他有资格分得奖金池中20%的份额让下属感到嫉妒，最终导致他们策划阴谋赶走了他。2013年的奖金总额为13亿美元，去年也达到差不多的规模。

Mr Gross says that the division of spoils was “consistent with his skill and reputation” and while younger executives were pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars of fees for Pimco, it was from new kinds of investment vehicles that Mr Gross thought might not survive a future financial crisis.

格罗斯表示，当年的奖金分配与“他的技能和声誉相符”，尽管较为年轻的高管们为PIMCO赚取了数亿美元的手续费，但他认为，这些收入来源于新型的投资工具，它们可能撑不过未来的金融危机。

The lawsuit, which alleges constructive termination and demands more than $200m in damages, shines a public light for the first time on the scale of the remuneration for Pimco’s top tier. These are bonuses that for years have generated envy and speculation, not just outside the asset manager but among staff not elevated to the inner circle.

格罗斯在诉状中宣称自己属于“推定终止雇佣”（constructive termination，指雇员在雇主制造的敌意工作环境中被迫辞职——译者注），并要求获得逾2亿美元的损害赔偿金。该案让PIMCO高层薪酬水平首次曝光于公众面前。多年来，不仅仅是外界，那些没有升至核心圈的员工也纷纷猜测这些奖金数量有多少，并感到嫉妒。

An elite group of 60 managing directors divide up the pool that is left after paying the rest of Pimco’s 2,400 employees and sending an agreed majority of profits to its German parent, Allianz.

在向PIMCO的2400名员工支付薪酬并按约定将大部分盈利上缴给德国母公司安联集团(Allianz)之后，剩下的就是该公司的奖金，一个由60名董事总经理组成的精英集团将会分享这些奖金。

“Pimco is Wall Street-upon-Newport Beach,” says Charles Skorina, a headhunter for the asset management industry, referring to the California city where Pimco is headquartered. “You come here, you have good ideas, you prove yourself and you can make hedge fund-size money.”

资产管理行业的猎头查尔斯斯科里纳(Charles Skorina)表示：“PIMCO是新港海滩(Newport Beach)上的华尔街。你来到这里，你有好的点子，你证明了自己，你就可以赚得对冲基金规模的钱。”新港海滩是PIMCO总部所在的加州城市。

Mr Gross was the driving force and the public face of Pimco’s rise to become the world’s biggest bond manager, managing $2tn in assets by 2013. Feted as the “bond king” for decades of successful bets on interest rates, he ran the Total Return Bond fund that was Pimco’s single largest product, with nearly $300bn under management.

格罗斯推动PIMCO崛起为全球最大的债券管理公司，到2013年管理着2万亿美元的资产。他同时还是公司的门面。由于几十年来成功地押注利率走势，格罗斯被誉为“债券之王”，他管理的Total Return债券基金是PIMCO最大的单一产品，规模近3000亿美元。

But the backdrop to the rising tensions inside Pimco was a changing bond market landscape. Investors were questioning so-called “core bond” funds such as the Total Return Bond fund, fearing they would suffer if the 30-year bull market in bonds finally ended.

但PIMCO内部紧张氛围加剧的背景是不断改变的债券市场格局。投资者质疑Total Return债券基金等所谓的“核心债券”基金，担心如果持续30年的债券牛市最终结束，这些基金将发生亏损。

Mr Gross says that he resisted diversification efforts, saying Pimco should stick to “bonds and burgers” rather than trying to offer a “cheesecake factory” menu of riskier products.

格罗斯表示，他抵制了业务多元化努力，称PIMCO应该坚持“债券和汉堡”，而不是尝试提供较高风险产品的“奶酪蛋糕工厂”。

But inflows into other funds, such as those which took on more credit risk, had already shifted the balance of power at Pimco. Core bond strategies had gone from being three-quarters of its assets a decade earlier to less than one-third, according to executives in 2014, and newer products generated higher fees.

但资金流入了那些承担更大信用风险的其他基金，这已经改变了PIMCO内部的实力平衡。高管们在2014年表示，核心债券策略基金占其资产比例已从十年前的四分之三降至不足三分之一，而较新的产品赚取了更高的手续费。

This was especially true of the mortgage, real estate and private equity funds run by Dan Ivascyn who, Mr Gross’s lawsuit alleges, began to urge that “contrary to Pimco’s decades-old structure, compensation should be allocated on the basis of each investment area’s relative profit. Conveniently, that move would result in far larger sums being paid to Ivascyn himself.”

由丹伊瓦辛(Dan Ivascyn)管理的抵押贷款、房地产和私人股本基金尤其如此。格罗斯在诉状中声称，伊瓦辛开始主张，“与PIMCO实行数十年的结构相反，薪酬应该基于每个投资领域的相对利润分配。便利的是，此举将导致伊瓦辛本人获得高得多的薪酬”。

Mr Gross also underperformed the industry in 2011 and 2013 after calling interest rates wrong, and money was flowing out of his fund — outflows that accelerated after Mohamed El-Erian, Pimco’s chief executive and co-chief investment officer, quit in January 2014.

格罗斯还在2011年和2013年判断利率走势出错，业绩弱于整个行业，资金从他的基金流出——在PIMCO首席执行官兼联席首席投资者穆罕默德埃尔-埃利安(Mohamed El-Erian)于2014年1月辞职之后，资金加速流出。

Pimco said that it would defend itself and the suit had “no merit”. Mr Gross, meanwhile, is itching for a showdown in front of a jury. “It is important for him, as a matter of principle,” says Patricia Glaser, his lawyer. “In order to tell that story properly, Bill will have to take the stand, and Mr El-Erian will have to take the stand, and so will others.”

PIMCO表示将进行抗辩，称这起诉讼“站不住脚”。与此同时，格罗斯渴望在陪审团面前摊牌。他的律师帕特里夏格拉泽(Patricia Glaser)表示：“这对他来说非常重要，这是个原则问题。为了说清是非曲直，比尔将不得不出庭，埃尔-埃利安将不得不出庭，其他人也将不得不出庭。”

Ms Glaser refused to say how long ago she was approached to represent him, so it remains unclear whether Mr Gross began contemplating his legal action or if it was triggered by events since.

格拉泽拒绝透露格罗斯是多久前接触她并让她代理诉讼的，因此现在尚不清楚的是，格罗斯是一开始就考虑采取法律行动，还是后来的事件引发了此次诉讼。

The year since his exit has certainly provided more fodder for those debating whether Mr Gross was worth $300m per year to Pimco. His new fund for Janus Capital has attracted barely $700m in assets, much less than expected last September when Janus shares leapt 43 per cent on news of his arrival. A bout of underperformance in August means he is also losing money, down 1.87 per cent over one year and in the middle of the pack among similar funds, according to Morningstar.

对那些辩论格罗斯对PIMCO是否每年值3亿美元的人来说，自他离职以来的那一年肯定提供了更多证据。他为骏利资产(Janus Capital)发行的新基金仅吸引了7亿美元的资产，远低于去年9月的预期——当时骏利股价因他到来的消息而飙升43%。晨星(Morningstar)的数据显示，8月份表现不佳意味着他还在亏钱，该基金净值在一年多时间里下跌了1.87%，位居同类基金的中游。

The Pimco Total Return Bond fund is up 1.54 per cent under new management, meanwhile, although it has halved in size because of client outflows on Mr Gross’s departure. Pimco’s group wide assets have shrunk from $2tn to $1.5tn because of the turmoil, but money continues to flow into many of its newer funds.

与此同时，PIMCO由新管理层运营的Total Return债券基金上涨了1.54%，尽管由于客户因格罗斯离职而赎回资金，该基金规模减半。由于格罗斯离职风波，PIMCO整个集团的资产从2万亿美元缩减至1.5万亿美元，但资金继续流入许多新基金。

The lawsuit contends that Pimco’s preeminence in bond investing is “largely due to Mr Gross’s reputation and track record”.

格罗斯在诉状中主张，PIMCO在债券投资上占有显赫地位“在很大程度上得益于格罗斯的名声和以往的记录”。

How much of that value should accrue to Mr Gross is now a matter for the courts.

至于这种价值有多少应该归属格罗斯，现在是要由法庭裁决的问题。