Pimco Posts $12.59B Net Outflows Across Open-Ended Funds in November

Pacific Investment Management Co posted net outflows of $12.59 billion across its open-ended funds in November, down considerably from $48.3 billion of cash withdrawals the previous month, according to Morningstar data on Wednesday.

The majority of last month's redemptions came from Pimco's flagship Total Return Fund, which was previously managed by Pimco co-founder Bill Gross, who resigned unexpectedly on Sept. 26 to join smaller rival Janus Capital Group Inc <JNS.N>.

Morningstar's estimated net outflow for Pimco Total Return for November was $9.7 billion, or 5.7 percent of October-ending assets of $170.9 billion. Total assets in the fund at the end of November were $162.8 billion, which still marks the Pimco Total Return as the world's largest bond fund.

Estimated net outflows for the Pimco Total Return Exchange-Traded Fund, an actively managed ETF designed to mimic the strategy of the flagship mutual fund, for November was $66 million, or 2.6 percent of October-ending assets of $2.5 billion. Total assets in the fund at the end of November were $2.44 billion, Morningstar said.

In total, the Newport Beach, California-based Pimco, a unit of Allianz SE <ALVG.DE>, has seen net outflows of $121.73 billion across its open-ended funds since the start of the year ended November, Morningstar said.

The Vanguard Group, one of the largest U.S. asset managers, has benefitted from an exit of funds from rival Pimco, posting inflows of $21.3 billion across its funds in November, including $7.6 billion into its bond funds, the firm said Wednesday. In October, Vanguard said its bond funds and ETFs saw a record monthly inflow of $10.3 billion in October, compared with $9.3 billion in September.

Dan Ivascyn, who replaced Gross, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that net cash outflows from various funds had slowed dramatically and performance had improved following a drop after Gross's departure.

"We've been very stable in implementing our investment process from the first day of Bill's departure," Ivascyn said. "From that perspective, we’ve been in very good shape."

In November, the Pimco Total Return Fund, under a new team led by long-time Pimco portfolio manager Scott Mather, posted returns of 1.00 percent, beating 99 percent of its intermediate-term category group, according to Morningstar data.

(Reporting By Jennifer Ablan; editing by Gunna Dickson)