PIMCO Adds U.S. Defense Policy and National Security Expert Michèle Flournoy to its Global Advisory Board
Newport Beach, California (March 3, 2021) – PIMCO, one of the world’s premier fixed income investment managers, announces that Michèle Flournoy, an expert in U.S. defense policy and national security issues, is joining PIMCO’s Global Advisory Board. The Board provides PIMCO’s 870-plus global investment professionals with insights on global economic, political, and strategic developments and their relevance for financial markets.
Ms. Flournoy served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Obama Administration and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy in the Clinton Administration. She is Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, which she co-founded with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and former Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). In her role as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Ms. Flournoy was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations and represented the U.S. in defense policy engagements around the world.
“Michèle has deep experience in U.S. defense policy and national security issues and is a remarkable addition to our Global Advisory Board,” said Emmanuel Roman, PIMCO’s Chief Executive Officer. “Her insights and analysis of the role geopolitical developments will play in policies and actions by major governments will help us assess their potential impact on capital markets for our clients.”
“PIMCO’s economic outlook incorporates the potentially disruptive effects of geopolitical events on markets and Michèle’s expertise in assessing the national security and policy implications of these events will be a key input into our assessment of investment risk and opportunity,” said Dan Ivascyn, PIMCO’s Group Chief Investment Officer.
Alongside Ms. Flournoy, PIMCO’s Global Advisory Board members include Ben Bernanke, former Federal Reserve Chairman and Chair of the Board, Gordon Brown, former U.K. Prime Minister and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Ng Kok Song, former Chief Investment Officer of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Joshua Bolten, former White House Chief of Staff, and Mark Carney, United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and former Governor of both the Bank of England and Bank of Canada.
Professional Biography
Michèle Flournoy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, and former Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where she currently serves on the board. She served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2009-2012. She was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations and represented the Department in dozens of foreign engagements. In 2007, Ms. Flournoy co-founded CNAS, a bipartisan think tank dedicated to developing strong, pragmatic and principled national security policies. She served as CNAS’ President until 2009, and returned as CEO in 2014. In 2017, she co-founded WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm. She served in the Clinton Administration as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy. Ms. Flournoy has edited several books and authored dozens of reports and articles on a broad range of defense and national security issues. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard University and a master’s degree in international relations from Balliol College, Oxford University, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar.
