Pimco Ramps Up Colombia Local Debt Exposure

Pacific Investment Management Co. has significantly increased its exposure to Colombia’s local debt market, emerging as a leading foreign investor in the asset class. During the presidency of Gustavo Petro, Pimco funds purchased about 41 trillion pesos in local bonds, an amount equivalent to roughly $13 billion. This buying spree took place while other foreign investors were reducing their positions and withdrawing capital from the market.

The scale of Pimco’s accumulation stands out in the broader context of foreign flows. While overseas investors as a group saw net outflows from Colombian local debt, Pimco’s purchases were large enough to more than offset these withdrawals. As a result, the firm’s role in Colombia’s local fixed income market expanded markedly relative to other global asset managers.

Pimco’s sustained buying has translated into a sharp increase in its share of foreign holdings in Colombia’s local debt. The firm now holds 27% of all foreign-owned positions in this market. Four years earlier, its slice of foreign holdings was 1.4%, underscoring the speed and magnitude of the shift.

This rise in market share reflects both Pimco’s active accumulation and the concurrent retrenchment of other overseas investors. As other foreign funds exited, Pimco’s continued inflows allowed it to occupy a much larger portion of the remaining foreign investor base in Colombian local bonds.

The concentration of foreign holdings with a single global asset manager has become a notable feature of Colombia’s local debt market. Pimco’s larger footprint means that a significant share of foreign participation in local-currency bonds is now tied to its investment decisions. This distinguishes Colombia from peers where foreign ownership may be more widely dispersed across multiple institutions.

At the same time, the ability of one manager’s inflows to offset broader foreign outflows highlights the continued capacity of Colombia’s local bond market to attract targeted international demand. The combination of other funds’ withdrawals and Pimco’s sizable purchases has reshaped the foreign investor landscape in a relatively short period, defining a new balance of participation in the country’s local debt.