"Treasure your pets and all living things. Eventually we all stop living." So wrote Bill Gross, founder of bond behemoth PIMCO, in his April investment outlook letter, dedicated to his beloved cat, Bob, deceased after 14 years.
When you look at things that way, not much else matters—not even, perhaps, in the grander scheme of life, the disappointing performance of PIMCO's flagship Total Return Fund (PTTRX), which has been on a downward trajectory for nearly a year.
All the same, though, the negative performance of the largest bond fund in the world—it has been trailing 87% of its peers thus far this year, according to data from Morningstar—has been an important item of financial news for months, and for many financial advisors it remains a source of great disappointment.
