Dubbed “one of the sanest voices on Wall Street”, Mohamed El Erian’s top 10 spot will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his meteoric financial career. As CEO of the US-based Pacific Investment Management Co (PIMCO), home to the world’s largest bond fund, El Erian oversees some $744bn in assets — but still finds time to pen award-winning book. His latest effort, ‘When Markets Collide’, snared the 'FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year' award last October.

The son of an Egyptian diplomat, El Erian earned his stripes as an economist at the International Monetary Fund, after an Oxbridge education. An early stint at PIMCO in 1999 was interspersed by two years at Harvard Management Company, Harvard University’s $34.9bn endowment fund, among other roles, but the 41-year-old returned to PIMCO last year to take up the investment house’s top job.

Now, with 25 years of investment experience under his belt, he is widely seen as one of the world’s most respected financial and economic analysts.

And El Erian’s influence goes beyond the boardroom. PIMCO was one of four asset managers picked last year by the Obama administration to run a $500bn federal programme to purchase mortgage-backed securities.

The firm also runs the Federal Reserves’ $251bn commercial paper programme that keeps short-term debt flowing to corporate America, making PIMCO essential to the revival of the economy. In terms of influencing the worlds markets, few have more power.

When asked the secret to investment success, El Erian advises independent thinking. “Every morning, we ask ourselves if our views are consistent with the data coming out,” he says. “We don’t rely on what Wall Street tells us.”