Briefcase

Quest Aircraft receives capital investment

Sandpoint’s Quest Aircraft Co. said Wednesday it has received a significant private investment that will help the stressed manufacturer ride out the bumpy aviation economy.

The capital investment and its source were not disclosed.

Quest makes the $1.6 million Kodiak, an airplane marketed to mission groups and to agencies or businesses that operate in rugged remote areas. Last year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bought nine Kodiaks.

The economy has caused sales to drag, said company CEO Paul Schaller. The new investment will increase Quest’s sales and marketing efforts, he said.

The company has six North American sales representatives and is broadening its U.S. network of designated service centers.

“We have injected equity into Quest, which allows us to significantly reduce debt, ramp up production and invest in customer service centers,” Schaller said in a prepared statement.

Tom Sowa

Report: Pimco sells all U.S. holdings

NEW YORK – The world’s largest bond investor has sold off all his company’s U.S. government-related holdings, according to published reports.

The move by Bill Gross, founder of the Pacific Life Investment Management Co., was reported in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday.

The Pimco Total Return Fund, the world’s largest mutual fund, held no government-related debt by the end of February, according to an unidentified person at Pimco.

Treasury prices nevertheless rose Wednesday after the government saw strong bidding at an auction of debt.

Investors like Gross believe that bond values could drop once the Federal Reserve ends its $600 billion bond buying program in June. The Fed is expected to discuss the program, which was intended to spur economic recovery, at its meeting next week.

Associated Press