A dealmaker of international standing, and former Blackstone leader, John Studzinski is bringing his skills to Pimco. The investment management giant has hired Studzinski to advance its global strategy, while serving as a key strategic advisor to many of Pimco’s top clients around the world, including public and private pension funds, corporations, sovereign wealth funds, governments and family offices.

“I have long had enormous respect and admiration for Pimco’s investment acumen, steady client focus and the vital role it plays in the world’s economy,” said Studzinski. He’s joining the Newport Beach, CA-based Pimco as managing director and vice chairman.

The new role with Pimco comes on the heels of Studzinski’s recent announcement that he would step down as vice chairman at Blackstone. At Blackstone, and at Morgan Stanley and HSBC before that, he has served as what the New York Times called “a consigliere to chief executives around the world.”

While with Blackstone, which he joined in 2006, Studzinski oversaw sovereign and institutional investor relationships and advised large, influential pools of family capital on investment strategy. He also guided AIG through its near-death experience during the 2008 financial crisis, a process that he told the Times was “the career deal of my life.”

Earlier, Studzinski served as head of European investment banking at Morgan Stanley, and as deputy chairman of Morgan Stanley International. Following his time with Morgan Stanley, where he began his career 30 years ago, Studzinski was instrumental in HSBC Group’s buildout of its investment banking division.

Studzinski’s high-level investment and advisory activities put him on the radar screen of Immanuel Roman, who will now be his boss as CEO of Pimco. “I’ve known John for a very long, long time,” Roman told the Times.

Roman said he’d tried to recruit Studzinski to Pimco “basically since I arrived” at Pimco in October 2016. “I thought he’d be a perfect fit. It took a little bit of time, and finally, we got there.”

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