Ex-Fed chief Bernanke to advise investment giant Pimco

Spreading his wings in his post-Fed career, former top US central banker Ben Bernanke is joining bond investment giant Pimco as a senior advisor, Pimco announced Wednesday.

The company said Bernanke, the affable 61-year-old economist who chaired the Federal Reserve in 2006-2014, will be "contributing his economic expertise and insights to the firm's investment process and periodically engaging Pimco's clients."

Bernanke added the job to a growing list of lucrative post-Fed positions, including an academic post at the Brookings Institution think tank -- where he has started a blog on economic and monetary policy -- and a consultant role at the Citadel hedge fund.

Bernanke's "unrivalled experience in navigating the global economy through the financial crisis will provide Pimco's investment professionals with unique insights as we help our clients amidst a challenging and uncertain period for global markets in coming years," said Douglas Hodge, Pimco chief executive.

Long the world's largest bond fund manager with $1.6 trillion under management, Pimco has gone through turmoil in the past three years.

After a poor performance in 2013 sparked a strong outflow of funds, the two heads of the company, Mohammed El-Erian and Bill Gross, split over policy.

El-Erian left in January 2014, and Gross, who built Pimco's strong investment record, exited in September, amid reports that he was on the verge of being fired.