One area of focus: predicting inflation. The firm aims to add consumer data that will help managers make faster and more-accurate forecasts on the consumer-price index, a benchmark that informs investment decisions on most debt securities, Mr. Roman said. Finally, Pimco is also exploring partnerships with research universities to study how asset managers can apply machine-learning techniques that have worked in other industries, including retailers, Mr. Roman said. Mr. Roman unveiled plans to add another U.S. office in a Feb. 26 memorandum to staff. In that memo, previously reported by Bloomberg News, Mr. Roman listed three cities as contenders: Austin, Dallas and Denver.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pimcos-new-bond-king-could-be-a-robot-1524567600