Bill Gross’s bond mutual fund at Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc. suffered a 2.87 percent decline in its net asset value Monday, according to fund-research firm Morningstar Inc.
The drop is unusually large for a bond fund, according to people familiar with the industry. Gross’s $1.5 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond fund follows a strategy that allows it to invest in a variety of securities, unlike a typical bond fund.
“I have spent 25 years investing with managers across every asset class, and I don’t think I have ever seen a bond fund drop almost three percent in one day,” said Bradley Alford, chief investment officer at Alpha Capital Management in Atlanta, which manages mutual funds.
By comparison, rival BlackRock’s $31.1 billion Strategic Income Opportunities fund, which follows a similar strategy, fell 0.2 percent Monday, according to Morningstar.
A spokeswoman for Janus Capital declined to comment.
Gross has been managing the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond fund since last September, after his abrupt departure from Pacific Investment Management Co.
