Bill Gross’ performance ‘disappointing,’ Janus Henderson CEO says

Legendary bond manager Bill Gross' performance has been "disappointing," and it will take time for him to recover from losses and outflows, according to Dick Weil, the CEO of asset manager Janus Henderson Group.

"I think the sort of underperformance we're seeing is challenging and disappointing to him more than any of us," Mr. Weil said Thursday in a Bloomberg Television interview. "It'll take some time to dig his way out."

Mr. Gross' Janus Henderson Global Unconstrained Bond Fund ended July at $1.25 billion, down almost $1 billion from its peak in February. His fund has lost about 7% this year. Mr. Weil hired the legendary bond manager in 2014 from Pacific Management Investment Co., where they worked together before Mr. Weil became CEO of Janus Capital Group in 2010.

Mr. Weil was named on July 31 as sole CEO of the London-based firm that manages $370 billion, after the board chose him over Andrew Formica, his co-CEO since the May 2017 merger of Janus Capital and Henderson Group. Janus shares fell 8% after the announcement, the most since the two firms joined.

"The good news is it happened a little faster than expected," Mr. Weil said of the selection of a single CEO.

The company's stock has dropped 24% this year through Wednesday, compared with a decline of 7% for S&P's index of 18 asset managers and custody banks.

Janus Henderson investors pulled a net $5.4 billion this year through June 30, raising questions about the rationale for the merger, which aimed to open new selling opportunities in Europe for Denver-based Janus and in North America for London-based Henderson.