The younger brother of shadow chancellor Ed Balls has shared in a £57million payout as a director at the world’s biggest bond dealer.

Andrew Balls is managing director in the London office of the California-based investment firm Pimco and head of its European management portfolio.

Pimco Europe manages assets worth more than £96.8billion for its investors and has a huge influence over national economies.

This has soared during the economic crisis because countries are desperate for its investors to buy their bonds.

However, Pimco damaged the credibility of Gordon Brown’s government while Ed Balls was in the Cabinet when its founder Bill Gross compared Britain’s debt to nitroglycerin.

Now Pimco is set to embarrass the shadow chancellor again as Labour has led the charge against ‘fat-cat’ pay awards.

Figures filed with Companies House reveal seven directors of the European arm of the company have shared £57.1million in pay

One director, who is not named, received an astonishing £29.9million, making him one of the world’s highest-paid fund managers.

The remaining six Pimco Europe directors shared £27.2 million between them, with possible average payouts of £4.5million

Deborah Hargreaves of the High Pay Centre condemned the pay awards at Pimco, saying: ‘These people are being paid for speculating on weak governments.

‘They are holding countries like Greece and Spain to ransom because they hold large swathes of their bonds.

‘These shadowy figures have a massive impact on the way governments conduct their economies and the severity of their austerity packages

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