Daughter’s missed milestones list sees financier quit job

Mohamed El-Erian expected to go quietly. The one-time heir apparent to Pimco investment chief Bill Gross had no idea leaving the firm would create a fire storm.

But now the world-renowned financier has disclosed how his daughter played a major role in his decision last January to leave Pimco, which has nearly $2 trillion in assets.

El-Erian’s departure rocked the investment world. He said he decided it was more important to be a good dad than a good investor.

He realised he needed a change in May 2013, after his then-10-year-old daughter wrote him a list of 22 milestone events in her life he had missed.

Among the events were his 10-year-old daughter’s first day at school, her first football match of the season and a parent-teacher meeting.

The 56-year-old, now chief economic adviser at German insurer Allianz, Pimco’s parent company, told wealth management magazine Worth: “About a year ago, I asked my daughter several times to do something — brush her teeth, I think it was — with no success. I reminded her that it was not so long ago that she would have immediately responded, and I wouldn’t have had to ask her multiple times; she would have known from my tone of voice that I was serious.

“She asked me to wait a minute, went to her room and came back with a piece of paper. It was a list that she had compiled of her important events and activities that I had missed due to work commitments. Talk about a wake-up call.

“The list contained 22 items, from her first day at school and first soccer match of the season to a parent-teacher meeting and a Halloween parade. And the school year wasn’t yet over. I felt awful and got defensive: I had a good excuse for each missed event. Travel, important meetings, an urgent phone call, sudden to-do.

“But it dawned on me that I was missing an infinitely more important point. As much as I could rationalise it — as I had rationalised it — my work-life balance had gotten way out of whack, and the imbalance was hurting my very special relationship with my daughter. I was not making nearly enough time for her.”

His punishing work hours with Pimco saw him rise at 2.45am, get into work at 4.15am and not get home until 7pm. After dinner he was back in bed by 8.45pm.

He says he and his wife now share turns taking their daughter to school.