Four PIMCO mutual funds that were managed by star bond manager William H. Gross saw large withdrawals in October, causing record outflows of $48.3 billion at Mr. Gross’ former firm, data from Morningstar show.
Outflows for the PIMCO Total Return Fund, which Mr. Gross managed and for which he was most well-known, saw outflows of $32.2 billion, lowering the fund’s assets to $170.9 billion.
The Morningstar outflow data for the Total Return Fund differ from Pacific Investment Management Co.’s own data, which showed a smaller, but still significant outflow of $27.5 billion. Michelle Swartzentruber, a Morningstar research analyst, said the Morningstar data include Sept. 30 but not Oct. 31 data, while the PIMCO data are for the calendar month of October.
PIMCO Unconstrained Bond Fund saw outflows of $4.8 billion, lowering its assets to $13.8 billion. PIMCO’s data had the fund losing $3.9 billion in outflows in October, using the calendar month of October instead of the Morningstar data calculations.
PIMCO Low Duration Fund followed in outflows with $2.5 billion, dropping the fund’s size to $17.6 billion.
While the fourth biggest loser in terms of assets, the $2.9 billion PIMCO Long Duration U.S. Government Fund, which saw $1.7 billion in outflows, was not managed by Mr. Gross, the former PIMCO chief investment officer did manage the fifth biggest loser, PIMCO Total Return III Fund. The mutual fund, a variation of the Total Return Fund with fewer holdings, suffered $823 million in redemptions in October, decreasing assets to $1.9 billion.
PIMCO officials have privately said that they expected continuing overall outflows from Mr. Gross’ departure for the next several months. Mr. Gross left on Sept. 26 to join Janus Capital Group.
In a statement, PIMCO CEO Douglas Hodge did not address the outflows, instead focusing on investment performance.
“PIMCO is a long-term investor, focused on delivering consistent results for our clients. Given October’s market volatility and the firm’s recent CIO succession, PIMCO’s investment performance during the month is noteworthy and attributable to the strength and contribution of the firm's large portfolio management team,” Mr. Hodge said in the statement.
The outflows at the firm are believed to be higher than what Morningstar reported because its data do not track institutional separate accounts.
Overall, Morningstar says in September and October, PIMCO mutual funds had $73.8 billion in net outflows.
