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October 27, 2014 at 08:00 PM
PIMCO’s assets under management fell 5% in the third quarter, according to figures the firm released on Oct. 10. As of Sept. 30, the fixed-income shop had $1.876 trillion in AUM vs. $1.973 trillion on June 30.
“Changes in AUM are a function of a number of factors, including portfolio returns, currency changes and net client flows,” the group said in a statement. Its various funds had “a range of returns and client flows for the quarter.”
On Oct. 1, PIMCO said net outflows from the Total Return Fund, formerly managed by Bill Gross—who left the firm abruptly in late September to join rival Janus Capital Group—were an estimated $23.5 billion. “Of note,” the company explained, “the largest daily outflow occurred on the day of Bill Gross’s resignation from the firm, while outflows on the two following days were considerably smaller.”
Recently, Jeff Tjornhoj, head of research for Lipper-Americas, gave his view on Gross’ exit from PIMCO, calling it “the biggest news for bond funds [in] this past quarter” and attributing the move to “internal strife with executive management [that] grew too distracting for either side to bear.”
Gross left “before he could be fired,” explained. “It was a watershed moment for the fund industry to see a titan such as Bill Gross lose control of one of the largest mutual funds in the world. We’ll be curious to see how the next chapter of his career evolves at Janus.”
Meanwhile, PIMCO says investors are “showing confidence in PIMCO,” as demonstrated by the roughly $6.5 billion that has moved into the PIMCO Income Fund.
In mid-October, Morningstar said it “still likes” the Total Return Fund, despite its continued spate of outflows. The research group downgraded its rating on the fund to bronze from gold following Gross’ career move.
“The underlying material that has driven the [Total Return] fund is still there,” said Eric Jacobson, senior analyst of active strategies, on a conference call.
John Hale, Morningstar’s director of manager research for North America, adds that while the Total Return Fund has seen “significant outflows,” PIMCO has “sufficient liquidity” to handle those outflows—at least in the short-term.
In the wake of Gross’ departure, PIMCO appointed Daniel Ivascyn as the its new group chief investment officer. Ivascyn has served as deputy CIO since January and has managed the $38 billion PIMCO Income Fund; he joined PIMCO in 1998. The firm also appointed Scott Mather, Mark Kiesel and Mihir Worah as portfolio managers for the PIMCO Total Return Fund and ETF.
At Janus, Gross is managing the Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, which launched in May 2014, and “related strategies,” according to his new employer. He will work with the company’s fixed-income chief investment officer, Gibson Smith, and CEO Dick Weil.
Recent Reports
Geopolitical risks are rising around the world and dragging down the global economy, according to an investment outlook written by Mather and Greg Sharenow, executive vice president at PIMCO, and published in mid-October. They argue that there are three “clear policy tools” that could help counter the admittedly “extremely complicated” problems geopolitical risks create, particularly regarding energy.
