PIMCO Re-Names Smart Beta-Based Equity Strategies to Align Offerings With Planned Product Expansion

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 26, 2015) - PIMCO, a leading global investment management firm, is re-naming a range of enhanced equity strategies as part of a planned product expansion with Research Affiliates, a pioneer in smart beta solutions. The name changes take effect April 15 and will impact PIMCO's Fundamental IndexPLUS, Fundamental Advantage, Low Volatility RAFI-PLUS and select StocksPLUS strategies.

The changes will align the naming conventions for these offerings with upcoming additional PIMCO Research Affiliates Equity strategy launches. This product extension, announced in January, builds on a 10-year history of collaboration in equities between the two firms starting with the launch of the Fundamental IndexPLUS AR Fund in 2005.

"PIMCO's re-naming of these strategies together with our planned product expansion will give investors a clear and well-defined range of equity strategies to meet their needs and preferences," said Sabrina Callin, Managing Director and the Product Manager overseeing PIMCO's range of enhanced equity strategies. Added Ms. Callin: "These award-winning strategies represent unique, innovative solutions that seek to achieve superior outcomes for investors relative to cap-weighted equity market indices."

PIMCO received Lipper's top equity award for a large fund group in four of the past five years (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), based on each respective prior three year period. As of December 31, 2014 PIMCO had more than $50 billion in equity assets under management.

The renamed funds are:

Current Name	Revised Name
PIMCO Fundamental IndexPLUS® AR Fund	PIMCO RAE Fundamental PLUS Fund
PIMCO Small Company Fundamental IndexPLUS® AR Strategy Fund	PIMCO RAE Fundamental PLUS Small Fund
PIMCO International Fundamental IndexPLUS® AR Strategy Fund	PIMCO RAE Fundamental PLUS International Fund
PIMCO EM Fundamental IndexPLUS® AR Strategy Fund	PIMCO RAE Fundamental PLUS EMG Fund
PIMCO Low Volatility RAFI®-PLUS AR Fund	PIMCO RAE Low Volatility PLUS Fund
PIMCO Intl Low Volatility RAFI®-PLUS AR Fund	PIMCO RAE Low Volatility PLUS International Fund
PIMCO EMG Intl Low Volatility RAFI®-PLUS AR Fund	PIMCO RAE Low Volatility PLUS EMG Fund
PIMCO Fundamental Advantage Absolute Return Strategy Fund	PIMCO RAE Fundamental Advantage PLUS Fund
PIMCO Worldwide Fundamental Advantage AR Strategy Fund	PIMCO RAE Worldwide Fundamental Advantage PLUS Fund
PIMCO Worldwide Long/Short Fundamental Strategy Fund	PIMCO RAE Worldwide Long/Short PLUS Fund
PIMCO International StocksPLUS® AR Strategy Fund (Unhedged)	PIMCO StocksPLUS® International Fund (Unhedged)
PIMCO International StocksPLUS® AR Strategy Fund (U.S. Dollar-Hedged)	PIMCO StocksPLUS® International Fund (U.S. Dollar-Hedged)
PIMCO Small Cap StocksPLUS® AR Strategy Fund	PIMCO StocksPLUS® Small Fund
PIMCO StocksPLUS® AR Short Strategy Fund	PIMCO StocksPLUS® Short Fund

About PIMCO
PIMCO is a leading global investment management firm, with 13 offices in 12 countries throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1971, PIMCO offers a wide range of innovative solutions to help millions of investors worldwide meet their needs. PIMCO's goal is to provide attractive returns while maintaining a strong culture of risk management and long-term discipline. PIMCO is owned by Allianz S.E., a leading global diversified financial services provider.

About Research Affiliates, LLC
Research Affiliates, LLC is a global leader in smart beta and asset allocation strategies. Dedicated to creating value for investors, Research Affiliates seeks to have a profound impact on the global investment community through our insights and products.

The firm is built on a strong research base, led by Rob Arnott and Jason Hsu. Research Affiliates delivers solutions in partnership with some of the world's leading financial institutions, who offer mutual funds, ETFs, separately managed accounts, and/or commingled accounts.

Research Affiliates was founded in 2002 and is based in Newport Beach, California.

As of September 30, 2014, about $177 billion in assets were managed worldwide using investment strategies developed by Research Affiliates.

Smart beta generally refers to a category of investment solutions that seek to add value by systematically investing in well-established sources of excess returns using a transparent and rules-based approach.

More information on Research Affiliates is available at www.researchaffiliates.com.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the funds carefully before investing. This and other information are contained in the fund's prospectus and summary prospectus, if available, which may be obtained by contacting your investment professional or PIMCO representative or by visiting www.pimco.com/investments. Please read them carefully before you invest or send money.

Fundamental Index®, the non-capitalization method for creating and weighting an index of securities, is patented and patent-pending proprietary intellectual property of Research Affiliates, LLC. (See all applicable US patent and pending patent disclosures located at http://www.researchaffiliates.com/Pages/legal.aspx, which are fully incorporated herein.)

The Lipper Fund Best Group over 3 Years Large Equity award recognizes funds that have delivered consistently strong risk-adjusted performance, relative to peers.

Assets stated above refer to dedicated equity accounts.

A word about risk: All investments contain risk and may lose value. Equities may decline in value due to both real and perceived general market, economic and industry conditions. There is no guarantee that these investment strategies will work under all market conditions or are suitable for all investors and each investor should evaluate their ability to invest long-term, especially during periods of downturn in the market. Investors should consult their investment professional prior to making an investment decision.

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the performance of financial markets, the investment performance of PIMCO's sponsored investment products and separately managed accounts, general economic conditions, future acquisitions, competitive conditions and government regulations, including changes in tax laws. Readers should carefully consider such factors. Further, such forward-looking statements speak only on the date at which such statements are made. PIMCO undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

This material has been distributed for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed. PIMCO and YOUR GLOBAL INVESTMENT AUTHORITY are trademarks or registered trademarks of Allianz Asset Management of America L.P. and Pacific Investment Management Company LLC, respectively, in the United States and throughout the world. ©2015 PIMCO.

PIMCO Investments LLC, distributor, 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, is a company of PIMCO.