Harvard fund director rejoins PIMCO as co-chief

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Investment fund PIMCO said Tuesday that Mohamed El-Erian, its former managing director, will return to the fund in a newly created position of managing director and co-chief executive and chief investment officer.

El-Erian will serve on the senior management team along with chief executive Bill Thompson and company founder Bill Gross, the company said in a statement.

"Neither Bill Gross nor I at this time have any plans to step down, and in fact, have just been elected by PIMCO's Managing Directors for 5-year terms in our respective roles," Thompson said in the statement. "The demands and complexities of our current positions suggest that the addition of a unique talent such as Mohamed's will enhance both of our contributions going forward."

El-Erian left PIMCO in 2005 to manage Harvard's endowment, the largest university endowment in the world.

Before Harvard, El-Erian worked at PIMCO for 7 years. Prior to that he spent 15 years at the International Monetary Fund.

California-based PIMCO, a division of Munich-based Allianz Group, has more than $693 billion assets under management.