PIMCO Outflows Continue in April as DoubleLine Sees Momentum

(Morningstar estimates fund flows by computing the change in assets that is not explained by the performance of the fund and acknowledges that the fund's actual flows may differ from its estimates for "a host of reasons.")

In March, Morningstar reported that $7.4 billion moved out of the PIMCO fund family, and $15.5 billion was withdrawn in the first quarter. PIMCO's flagship Total Return Fund experienced $3.1 billion in outflows in the third month of the year, when other intermediate-term bond funds had $7.4 billion of inflows.

Performance Picture

Institutional shares of the PIMCO Total Return Fund (PTTRX) were up about 0.74% in April and 2.05% for the year through April 30. That put the fund in the 68^th  percentile for the month and the 83^rd  percentile year to date for the intermediate-term bond group.

PIMCO's Total Return ETF (BOND), though, rose 0.73% in April and is up 2.89% year to date. That put it in the 70^th  percentile for the month, but also in the top percentile so far in 2014.

The DoubleLine Total Return Bond I Fund (DBLTX) underperformed its PIMCO counterpart for April, with returns of 0.69%, putting it in the 79^th performance percentile. However, it outperformed its rival year to date — with returns of 3.1%; that result put it in the 29^th percentile in terms of performance in its investment category.