Gross’s Pimco Total Return Fund Drew $231 Million in January

Bill Gross’s Pimco Total Return Fund, the world’s biggest mutual fund, attracted $231 million in investor deposits in January as performance rebounded.

The new money ended three straight months of redemptions from Pimco Total Return, according to data compiled by Chicago- based Morningstar Inc. Investors pulled about $3 billion from the fund in the three months ended Dec. 31, bringing withdrawals last year to $5 billion, the research firm said.

The $250.5 billion Pimco Total Return has advanced 2.4 percent this year, beating 99 percent of similarly managed funds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The fund last year rose 4.2 percent, lagging behind 69 percent of its peers, after Gross missed a rally in U.S. Treasuries and put money into riskier assets.

Gross, who eliminated Treasuries from the fund a year ago, reversed his position and boosted the proportion of U.S. government debt to 30 percent as of the end of December, according to data on Pimco’s website. Investor deposits into the fund were reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam in Boston at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net

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Bill Gross

Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., speaks during an interview in New York.

Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., speaks during an interview in New York. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg