Jeffrey Gundlach hasn't lost his investment magic — or his famous ego — running DoubleLine Capital LP, the Los Angeles money manager he formed after his highly publicized firing from now rival manager TCW Group last December.
In an interview in a DoubleLine conference room, Mr. Gundlach touted his market-beating performance over two decades and listed the traits that got them there: “I am unbelievably patient, I have a memory like an elephant, and a very high ability to focus.”
So far, the combination is serving him well.
His biggest mutual fund, the $2 billion-plus DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund, returned 13.99% from its April 6 inception through Sept. 20, making it the highest-performing intermediate-term bond fund tracked by Morningstar Inc., Chicago.
“Mr. Gundlach and his team have shown themselves to be skilled in diversifying a fund with various securities that stand up to the difficult market environment,” said Miriam Sjoblom, Morningstar's associate director of fund analysis.
But the $5 billion DoubleLine has under management in a dozen fixed-income strategies is only a fraction of the $70 billion Mr. Gundlach oversaw at TCW before his forced ouster on Dec. 4.
His termination in a dispute over control of the company occurred on the same day that TCW officials announced they had acquired a competing fixed-income manager — Metropolitan West Asset Management — to take over from Mr. Gundlach.
Mr. Gundlach said he expects to be managing $6 billion to $8 billion by the end of the year. He also said that as of July, DoubleLine was in the black — seven months after opening its doors.
Still, Mr. Gundlach said it probably will take some time to gain institutional investors, which made up $57 billion of his $70 billion in assets at TCW.