Gross Set for Record Book as Manager of Biggest Fund in History – Bloomberg.com Updated:New York, Dec 10 07:59London, Dec 10 12:59Tokyo, Dec 10 21:59 SYMBOL LOOKUP FEEDBACKHOMENEWSEXCLUSIVEWORLDWIDEREGIONSMARKETSINDUSTRIESECONOMYPOLITICSLAWENVIRONMENTSCIENCEOPINIONSPENDSPORTSARTS AND CULTUREEDITORS’ VIDEO PICKSBLOOMBERG MARKETS MAGAZINESPECIAL REPORTMARKET DATASTOCKSRATES & BONDSCURRENCIESMUTUAL FUNDSETFsCOMMODITIESECONOMIC CALENDARPERSONAL FINANCEJANE BRYANT QUINNJOHN DORFMANPORTFOLIO TRACKERCALCULATORSFINANCIAL GLOSSARYTV and RADIOBLOOMBERG TELEVISIONBLOOMBERG TELEVISION SYNDICATED REPORTSBLOOMBERG RADIOBLOOMBERG PODCASTSBLOOMBERG SHOWSCEO SPOTLIGHTCFO INSIGHTPORTFOLIO MATTERSMOBILEBUSINESSWEEKBUSINESS EXCHANGEBloomberg InnovatorsTechnologyCurrenciesForex Trading VideosETFsCEOCommoditiesJane Bryant QuinnJohn DorfmanPortfolio TrackerCalculatorsFinancial GlossaryRESOURCES Bloomberg TV Bloomberg RadioAudio/Video Reports Bloomberg PodcastsBloomberg Markets MagazineBloomberg Press More News • Convenience Checks Turn Inconvenient When Cuts to Card Limits Trigger Fees • Homeowners in U.S. Lost $5.9 Trillion Since 2006 as Defaults Cut Values • Pimco Says `Fear Not,’ Weaker Dollar Will Spur Growth, Keep Reserve Status Gross Set for Record Book as Manager of Biggest Fund in History Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print |A A A By Charles Stein Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) — Pimco Total Return Fund, run by BillGross since its inception in 1987, is set to become the biggestmutual fund in the industry’s history as individual investorsmostly sit out the 2009 stock rally for the safety of bonds. Based on the pace of current inflows, Gross’s bond fundthis month may surpass the record $202.3 billion reached byGrowth Fund of America in 2007, according to researcherMorningstar Inc. Total Return managed $199 billion at Nov. 30,while Growth Fund, which buys stocks, had $153 billion. Total Return took in $42 billion of new cash this yearthrough October, four times more than any other U.S. mutualfund, Morningstar data show. The growth underscores thereluctance of individuals to invest in equities even after U.S.stocks surged 61 percent from a 12 1/2-year low in March, andthe appeal of Gross’s returns, which beat all but four similarfunds in the past decade. “Last year was a time when many funds got burned, but thebiggest fund of all did fine,” Russel Kinnel, director ofmutual-fund research at Chicago-based Morningstar, said in aphone interview. Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pacific InvestmentManagement Co. in Newport Beach, California, returned 4.8percent last year while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, abenchmark for the largest U.S. equities, lost 37 percentincluding dividends. Investors added a net $297 billion to bond funds in thefirst 10 months of 2009, compared with $12 billion for stockfunds, according to Morningstar. Return Since Inception Total Return climbed an average of 8.5 percent annuallyincluding dividends from its opening in May 1987 through Dec. 4.That compares with the gain of 7.4 percent by the Barcap U.S.Aggregate Total Return Index. The Pimco fund has returned 14percent this year. The size of Gross’s fund, already the largest based oncurrent assets, could pose problems because many investments maybe too small to have a meaningful impact on performance, saidT.J. Marta, chief market strategist at Marta On The Markets LLC,a financial-research firm in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. “You can’t cherry-pick the best investments because youdon’t get enough return for your buck,” Marta said. Bond markets are sufficiently large and liquid toaccommodate a $200 billion fund without hurting returns orrestricting selection, Jeff Tjornehoj, senior research analystat Lipper in Denver, said in a telephone interview. The U.S.bond market had $34.3 trillion of debt outstanding in the secondquarter, according to data from the Securities Industry andFinancial Markets Association, a New York-based trade group. Advantage of Heft Gross said size would be a legitimate issue if the fundunderperformed the market for several years. “For over 20 yearsnow, it has not been,” he wrote in an e-mail. The fund’s heft creates advantages, including better accessto the issuers of debt and the ability to receive more“attractive new-issue allocations,” Gross said. The fund can hold derivatives, which are securities whose value is derived from an underlying asset such as debt, stocks or commodities. Derivatives can expand the universe of investments for a fund. Gross increased his holdings of government-related debt inOctober to 63 percent of the fund’s assets, the highest in fiveyears, according to the most recent data available on Pimco’sWeb site. The “systemic risk” of new asset bubbles is rising as theFederal Reserve keeps interest rates at record lows, Gross wrotein a commentary published last month. Under what Pimco has termed the “new normal,” investorsshould be prepared for lower-than-average historical returnswith heightened government regulation, lower consumption, slowergrowth and a shrinking global role for the U.S. economy. Mortgage Holdings Fall Total Return’s holdings of mortgage debt fell to 16 percentof the portfolio by market weight from 22 percent in September,matching their smallest percentage of the assets since May 2004.Investment-grade corporate securities rose to 18 percent of thefund from 17 percent, while high-yield bonds fell to 1 percentfrom 2 percent, according to the firm’s Web site. Total Return rose 7.7 percent annually in the 10 yearsended Nov. 30, according to Morningstar. The four comparablefunds with better gains are: the $9.3 billion Natixis LoomisSayles Investment Grade Bond Fund, which returned 9 percent; the$5.8 billion Delaware Diversified Income Fund, up 8.8 percent;the $403 million Frontegra Columbus Core Plus Fund, whichincreased 8 percent; and the $11.9 billion TCW Total Return BondFund, which returned 7.9 percent. ‘Rare Trait’ Pimco Total Return started the decade with $28 billion inassets. As the fund grew, Gross shifted from picking individualbonds to placing bets on specific categories such as mortgage,corporate and government bonds, said Eric Jacobson, director offixed-income research at Morningstar, which gives the fund itshighest rating of five stars. “It’s a rare trait to manage at that level,” he said. Gross’s comments on the economy, interest rates and thebond market, made on Pimco’s Web site as well as on televisionand radio, are closely followed by investors. In an October 2005 investment commentary, Gross predicted a“slam-dunk” scenario in which housing prices would cool,leading to a decline in “funny-money” lending practices andhome equity, a weakening of the U.S. economy and a reduction ininterest rates by the Federal Reserve. “If real housing prices decline in the U.S. in 2006 and2007, a recession is nearly inevitable,” Gross wrote. Arecession began in December 2007, according to the NationalBureau of Economic Research. Little Junk He’s also known for avoiding high-yield, or junk, bonds.The average credit rating of bonds in the fund is AA, the thirdhighest on Standard & Poor’s scale, with 4 percent of assets injunk, according to the fund’s Web site. Gross, 65, is a stamp collector and has said he turned $200into $10,000 while playing blackjack for four months in LasVegas after college. He was born in the Ohio steel-company townof Middletown. A graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina,with a psychology degree in 1966, he spent three years in theNavy and served in Vietnam. Gross joined Pimco after earning aMaster of Business Administration degree from the University ofCalifornia in Los Angeles in 1971. He began using yoga more than a decade ago and credits hismeditation sessions with clearing his head and helping himabsorb unexpected news, such as a Fed half-point interest ratecut in January 2001. The news caught him in the middle of a“sun salutation,” which softened the blow, he said at thetime. Total Return attracted $115 billion since the start of thedecade, the most of any mutual fund. Growth Fund of America, runby Los Angeles-based Capital Group Cos., was second with $99billion. Pimco, a unit of Munich-based insurer Allianz SE,managed $940 billion in assets as of Sept. 30. “They’ve got a well-known visible manager, a great brandand they’ve been successful,” Tjornehoj said. To contact the reporter on this story:Charles Stein in Boston at cstein4@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: December 9, 2009 00:01 EST