Pimco made these hires from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley

It's the time of year for moving from investment banks to the buy-side. And if you're going to the buy-side, which better place to go than Pimco, which is notorious for paying extremely well indeed?

Accordingly, the asset management firm has made two hires from leading investment banks in the past month.

In the U.S., Paul Vosper, the former co-head and chief operating officer at Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners' real estate business, just joined Pimco's New York office as executive vice president. Vesper, who spent 10 years at Morgan Stanley between 2000 and 2010 before rejoining the bank in 2012, now appears to have left the American bank for good.

In the U.K., Pimco just recruited Manon Mendez from Goldman Sachs as a portfolio manager in its distressed and special investments team. Mendez joined Goldman in 2012. She was latterly a distressed debt analyst, suggesting she's made an impressive step up to portfolio management.

Mendez' arrival at Pimco follows the departure of Charles Christian Hostetter, an associate in London, who quit for StormHarbour's special situations and restructuring team in January. It also follows the arrival of Leo Laurant, a distressed portfolio manager who previously worked for Bayside Capital, in the same month.

The last full accounts for Pimco's European operation cover the year to the end of December 2014. Then, the fund manager employed 302 people (up from 285 on year earlier), and paid them an average of £587k ($848k) each. By comparison, Goldman Sachs' pays its London staff a mere $399k on average. 

Photo credit: Exit by Ömer Serdar Ören is licensed under CC BY 2.0.