Fixed income fund manager Bill Gross continues to make a splash, even as he exits the industry. Gross, 74, said Monday that he will leave his role at Janus Henderson on March 1 to focus on his own portfolio and philanthropic efforts.
He co-founded the bond shop Pimco in 1971 and helped it grow to nearly $2 trillion in assets as of September 2014, when he abruptly departed for Janus (which had about $175 million in assets at the time).
"As assets at Pimco and Pimco Total Return grew, [Gross] successfully made the transition from being a bottom-up corporate bond-picker to a world class macro-level manager. He built a firm that stands today as among the very best, even in his absence," the fund research firm Morningstar said in a statement shared with ThinkAdvisor.
"That said, his jarring departure from Pimco and the nasty spat with his former firm were blemishes on his record," it added.
As for why he's retiring now, Gross is staying mum about his recent performance at Janus. "It's been almost a half a century of watching screens and waking up in the middle of the night to check Asia and Europe," Gross told Bloomberg Television on Monday.
"I've got a few Super Bowl rings and it's time now to enjoy myself and my family," he explained.
Gross has three children and has been married and divorced twice. The end of his second marriage came after his split with Pimco and also captured headlines due to temporary restraining orders along with accusations of spying, property destruction and extramarital affairs.
Another relationship that went south for Gross was that between him and Mohamed El-Erian, the chief economic advisor for Pimco's parent firm Allianz. El-Erian was Pimco's CEO and co-chief investment officer with Gross from 2007 to January 2014.
