Pacific Investment Management Co., the world's biggest bond fund manager, is preparing for an all-out attack on the fast-growing ETF market. The fund giant has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for bond and active equity ETFs, commodities ETFs and even asset allocation strategies using ETFs.

The investment world took note when PIMCO filed its first request for passive bond ETFs. The firm followed that up with a request to launch active strategies covering all asset classes, an indication of the importance PIMCO has attached to the future growth of the ETF market for even traditional asset managers. PIMCO's move may represent the watershed moment when the traditional fund providers, fat on retirement plan assets and traditional open-end funds, run headlong into the new breed of asset managers who have grown specifically as a result of ETFs.

With $829.4 billion in assets under management through June, PIMCO has established one of the fund industry's best records in the active fixed-income arena. And as far as brands, at least on the bond side, PIMCO is impossible to top. Its flagship PIMCO Total Return Fund (PTTRX), which has been run by bond legend Bill Gross for more than 20 years, has outperformed 97 percent of its peers in the past 10 years, according to Morningstar.

The time until SEC clearance could depend on the complexity of PIMCO's active ETFs, but industry watchers estimate that PIMCO could be a major force in the ETF market within six to nine months. The first-mover advantage has been a major differentiator in the ETF market in its early years, with providers first-in with a particular strategy gaining a lion's share of the assets. However, PIMCO's formidable brand and twist on active investments could cut into that advantage.