BlackRock, TCW, Vanguard, Baird Advisors and DoubleLine saw the largest inflows to their bond mutual funds in October, following William H. Gross' departure from PIMCO on Sept. 26, Morningstar Inc. reported.
In addition, Loomis Sayles & Co., Legg Mason, J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Prudential Financial Inc. had increased fixed-income inflows, due in part to Mr. Gross' departure, sources said.
Several sources agreed, however, that Mr. Gross' departure from Pacific Investment Management Co., Newport Beach, Calif., merely accelerated the healthy flows these firms already were experiencing.
“We had started seeing interest from consultants and clients upwards of six months ago, following the departure of (former CEO and Co-Chief Investment Officer Mohamed) El-Erian,” said one money manager who asked not to be named. “Once the news hit that Bill Gross had left, that accelerated the allocation of funds to us.”
Data from mutual funds researcher EPFR Global, Cambridge, Mass., show institutional investors committed $36 billion to EPFR Global-tracked U.S. bond mutual funds in October, after redeeming $3.2 billion in September.
(Data on institutional separate accounts are not tracked monthly by data providers contacted for this story.)
A BlackRock Inc. spokesman confirmed the New York-based manager saw roughly $5.2 billion in fixed-income mutual fund inflows in October, but didn't specify how much was institutional.
Data from Morningstar, Chicago, show BlackRock's Strategic Income Opportunities Fund attracted institutional inflows of $2.17 billion in October. Meanwhile, BlackRock's Total Return, Core Bond Portfolio, CoreAlpha Bond and Bond Index funds together pulled in approximately $1.19 billion in institutional inflows last month.
After the $174.7 billion Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, terminated PIMCO for a total of $1.03 billion in its Total Return Fund and Inflation Response Multiasset Strategy Fund, officials moved the money to two BlackRock funds that the FSBA already was invested in — a U.S. debt index fund and a Treasury inflation-protected securities fund.
BlackRock managed $1.33 trillion in fixed-income assets as of Sept. 30, of which $513.34 billion was institutional.