By Ulrike Dauer
The parent company of Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC
still expects Pimco and Bill Gross's flagship fund to return in the
course of this year to the substantial net inflows of the past.
Investors pulled $4.5 billion from the Pimco Total Return Fund
in June, marking the 14th consecutive month of outflows and the
biggest monthly outflow since September 2013, according to fund
tracker Morningstar. The exodus continued even though the fund's
return outperformed many rivals during the second quarter.
Mr. Gross is co-founder and chief investment officer of Newport
Beach, Calif.-based Pimco, which manages $1.94 trillion as part of
Allianz.
Allianz SE expects developments at Pimco to "return to
historical numbers " during 2014, Chief Financial Officer Dieter
Wemmer told investors Friday at the group's capital markets day in
London.
Mr. Wemmer said Pimco has always had some outflows in the past
and that the Total Return Fund--the world's largest bond
fund--makes up only 30% of the portfolio.
For decades Pimco was the jewel in the German company's crown.
However, it was the main drag on Allianz's first-quarter
earnings.
In May, Mr. Wemmer signaled Pimco will be scrutinized to ensure
it reverses net outflows in the coming quarters; indeed, net
outflows halved in the first quarter compared with the fourth.
Still, many investors remain cautious about the money manager
after a management shuffle earlier this year that resulted in the
departure of the firm's co-chief investment officer and chief
executive, Mohamed El-Erian, amid tensions with Mr. Gross, lagging
fund performance and record outflows in 2013.
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