NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/12/12 -- The PIMCO Foundation, the charitable arm of global investment management firm PIMCO, has awarded $810,000 in 2012 grants to 23 U.S. non-profit organizations.

"PIMCO is committed to giving back to our communities and helping those less fortunate than ourselves. To this end, we are delighted to support programs that make a difference every single day," said Mohamed A. El-Erian, Chief Executive Officer and co-Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO and President of the PIMCO Foundation. "The PIMCO Foundation is honored and pleased to provide these organizations with support to help them improve the quality of life of many in our communities. And we thank them for what they do so effectively."

This year, the Grants Program was aligned with the PIMCO Foundation's mission to Engage, Empower and Invest. PIMCO is based in Newport Beach, California. The Foundation's website can be accessed directly at www.pimco.com/pimcofoundation and its twitter feed is @pimcofoundation.

In the Engage category, the Foundation sought to support organizations that are addressing economic instability in Orange County and the New York Metro Area.

Specifically, the critical community indicators the Foundation focused on were:

• Workforce development for youth (16-25 years) and military veterans
• Homelessness and housing instability
• Food insecurity

In the Empower category, the Foundation sought to support organizations that are focused on financial literacy or college-readiness.

In the Invest category, the Foundation sought to support organizations that are focused on microenterprise and microfinance in developing countries.

The 2012 grants were awarded to:

Engage:
AIDS Services Foundation OC - Irvine, CA
Human Options - Irvine, CA
Illumination Foundation - Irvine, CA
Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter - Costa Mesa, CA
Partnership for the Homeless - New York, NY
Per Scholas - Bronx, NY
Taller San Jose - Santa Ana, CA

Empower:
Accion East - New York, NY
Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana - Santa Ana, CA
Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano - San Juan Capistrano, CA
Harlem Children's Zone - New York, NY
Junior Blind of America - Los Angeles, CA
KidWorks Community Development Corporation - Santa Ana, CA
Level Playing Field Institute - Oakland, CA
Minds Matter NYC - New York, NY Student Sponsor Partners - New York, NY
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship - Los Angeles, CA
The Wooden Floor - Santa Ana, CA
Student Sponsor Partners - New York, NY

Invest:
Accion - Boston, MA
Bpeace - New York, NY
BRAC USA - New York, NY
Opportunity International - Oak Brook, IL
Trickle Up - New York, NY

Grantees were recently invited to a PIMCO Foundation Grants Celebration Event -- in New York on December 6 and in Newport Beach on December 11.

About The PIMCO Foundation
The PIMCO Foundation is the charitable arm of PIMCO, based in Newport Beach, California, which helps people around the world to reach their full potential by engaging, empowering and investing in communities. It carries out its mission by identifying areas of urgent community need and volunteering time and financial resources to support high impact projects and programs; through education with a focus on financial literacy and college readiness; and by investing in people through partnerships fostering economic development. The PIMCO Foundation was founded in 2001 and launched its volunteer program in 2007. In 2011, firm established the PIMCO Foundation Europe as well as a charitable giving program in Australia. Last year, the PIMCO Foundation funded 125 organizations and more than 900 PIMCO employees volunteered their time in support of 100 non-profit organizations.

About PIMCO
PIMCO is a leading global investment management firm, with offices in 11 countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1971, PIMCO offers a wide range of innovative solutions to help millions of investors worldwide meet their needs. Our 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.

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.