Lawrence Glazer, who helps oversee $2 billion as managing partner at Mayflower Advisors in Boston, said the billionaire Gundlach’s brash public image, coupled with his bold pronouncements on everything from global interest rates and gold to hot stocks, create the false impression that the fund carries high risk.
“His personality is not a reflection of the fund,” said Glazer, whose clients invest with DoubleLine. “He has managed volatility better than conservative peers.”
Gundlach is still taking on prevailing wisdom. If the Fed begins raising interest rates in the middle of 2015, as many economists expect, it will have to reverse course, he told investors on a March 10 conference call.
“The Fed is intent on being a blockhead,” Gundlach said, referring to the game he played as a child where participants build a tower from blocks without it collapsing on their turn.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the central bank to boost rates steadily over the next year.
Even when Gundlach errs, his fund tends to hold up, said Oaktree’s Marks, whose firm is the world’s biggest distressed debt investor.
“When you combine a high degree of insight with some learning experiences,” Marks said, “I think you get a good result.”