Pimco Total Return Fund Suffers Record $27.5bn Monthly Withdrawals After Bill Gross' Exit

Investors withdrew a record amount from Pimco's flagship Total Return Fund in October, following famous investment manager Bill Gross' abrupt resignation from the company.

The fund, which was previously managed by Gross, had $27.5bn (£17.2bn, €22bn) net outflows in October, compared to $23.5bn outflows in September, a record for the mutual fund industry. The world's biggest fund has $170.9bn in assets as of 31 October.

Pimco noted that nearly half of the monthly outflows happened in the first five trading days, and withdrawals are slowing down.

"The daily average flow for the last five days in October was approximately one-tenth of the daily average flow during the first five trading days after Bill Gross's departure," the company said in a statement.

Flows from the total return fund peaked on 26 September, the day Gross announced his exit from Pimco and joined rival Janus Capital Group.

"The liquidity profile of the Fund remains high and, as always, the Fund is being managed consistent with the firm's market outlook and alpha strategies while meeting diminishing redemptions. In addition, the Fund has maintained its desired portfolio structure with appropriate risk exposures as the fixed income markets remain liquid and well-functioning."

Following a drastic drop in its assets under management, Pimco's management has been reassuring investors that Gross' resignation has not changed the company and its strategies remain the same.

"With Bill's recent decision to resign, the perception has been that there has been a dramatic shift at Pimco," Pimco CEO Doug Hodge said last month.

"However, the reality is that while Pimco has evolved into a globally diversified investment company, our DNA is fundamentally unchanged."

On 3 November, Pimco rehired Marc Seidner as chief investment officer of non-traditional strategies.