There is no love lost in the relationship between fund shop DoubleLine Capital and fund research firm Morningstar.
And Monday's move by Morningstar to give the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund (DBLTX) a "neutral" rating probably isn't going to help.
According to Morningstar analysts Jeffrey Ptak, CFA, and Sarah Bush, the fund is led by "a talented manager, but we still have questions about the fund's process and firm stewardship."
"We assigned a neutral rating, because we have a mixed view of the fund. We respect the skill and experience of its manager, Jeffrey Gundlach, who has amassed an impressive record here and at previous charge TCW Total Return Bond (TGLMX). We also think the fund is priced competitively — fees on its institutional share class are below the category norm," the analysts explained in an online report.
"However, we still have questions about the prudence and repeatability of the fund's process and the extent to which its advisor, DoubleLine Capital Management, is demonstrating its commitment to shareholder interests," they stated.
Since 2014, Morningstar – which gives the fund five stars – had assigned DLBTX a not ratable designation "after DoubleLine denied repeated requests for access to the firm's personnel and information on its strategy," it says. (Prior to that time, the fund had a neutral rating.)
DoubleLine says its Total Return Bond Fund had a net inflow of $363.6 million in June and year-to-date net inflows of $7.56 billion as of June 30. It calculates net flows by looking at fund share purchases and redemptions, and it does not count reinvestments of capital gains and/or dividends as inflows.
