Mr. Kashkari is a managing director and head of global equities in the Newport Beach office. He also serves on PIMCO’s Business Assessment Committee, and he is president of PIMCO Equity Series Trust. Previously, he was head of new investment initiatives for the firm. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2009, Mr. Kashkari served in the U.S. Treasury Department from 2006-2009, first as senior advisor to Secretary Henry Paulson and then as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. In the latter role, he established and led the Office of Financial Stability and oversaw the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Before joining the Treasury Department, Mr. Kashkari was a vice president at Goldman Sachs in San Francisco, advising technology companies on financings and mergers and acquisitions. Previously, he was an aerospace engineer at TRW Corporation. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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A first-generation American, Neel grew up in a middle class household to parents who immigrated to the United States from India some 50 years ago. Neel’s family stressed the importance of education and hard work as the keys to success in life. Although he did not come from material wealth, he recognized early the enormous advantages these simple but powerful lessons gave him, triggering an interest in public policy from a young age.
Neel went on to study engineering at the University of Illinois where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and led a team to develop an alternative-fueled vehicle, opening his eyes to the potential of these new technologies.
He moved to Redondo Beach in 1997 when he joined TRW (now Northrop Grumman) developing technology for NASA space science missions. Although he loved research, a growing interest in entrepreneurship led him back to graduate school, where he earned a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Neel moved to Silicon Valley in 2002 where he worked for Goldman Sachs, helping entrepreneurs raise capital to grow their companies and create jobs, giving him firsthand experience with the critical role small businesses play in our economy and the challenges they face in California.
In 2006, his desire to contribute to public policy brought him to Washington, D.C. to join the United States Treasury Department as Senior Advisor to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Neel’s initial work at Treasury brought experts from across the government and private sectors together to craft policies to encourage alternative energy sources that would enhance both national security and environmental sustainability, ultimately leading to Congress passing the Energy Independence and Security Act, which President Bush signed into law on December 19, 2007.
When the financial crisis erupted Neel spearheaded the Treasury Department’s response. He was confirmed as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury by the U.S. Senate in July 2008 and worked with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to write and pass the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.
Once the law was enacted, Neel established and led the Office of Financial Stability, working with experts from across the government, non-profit and private sectors to design and implement solutions to stem the economic crisis. Although appointed by President Bush, the Obama Administration asked Neel to remain at Treasury and continue leading the response until the crisis had been stabilized. The programs he oversaw helped rescue the U.S. economy and auto sector at minimum cost to the taxpayers (investments in banks and insurance companies even returned an estimated profit to taxpayers of $46 billion). For his leadership Neel was given the Alexander Hamilton Award, the Treasury Department’s highest honor.
Following his work in Washington, Neel returned to California in 2009 where he became Managing Director and Head of Global Equities at PIMCO, a firm that helps thousands of Americans meet their retirement goals, including teachers, firefighters, and other public employees. He recently left PIMCO to pursue his passion for public service
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