Investors pulled a net $150 billion from Pacific Investment
Management Co.'s mutual funds in 2014, the largest annual exodus
ever experienced by a mutual fund firm, according to preliminary
figures Tuesday from fund research firm Morningstar Inc.
In the final month of the year clients withdrew $26.7 billion,
including about $18 billion from Pimco's flagship Total Return
fund. That figure differs slightly from the $19.4 billion in
December withdrawals from Total Return that Pimco disclosed Friday
because of the way assets are counted.
Star manager Bill Gross ran Total Return before leaving abruptly
in late September for rival investment firm Janus Capital Group
Inc., and withdrawals at Pimco jumped following his exit. The Total
Return fund accounted for $103 billion of the $150 billion in
outflows for the year, according to Morningstar.
Analysts have said that Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pimco should
be able to withstand the outflow of money. The firm had $1.87
trillion in assets under management at the end of September, the
latest data available, and Morningstar has said the firm could
handle up to $350 billion in investor outflows over the next two
years.
A Pimco spokesman didn't immediately return a request for
comment.
The last time a fund company saw withdrawals of this size was in
2011, when investors pulled about $82 billion from Los
Angeles-based American Funds amid poor performance, according to
Morningstar.
Write to Kirsten Grind at kirsten.grind@wsj.com
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