Jeffrey Gundlach, DoubleLine’s CEO and chief investment officer will manage a $450 million variable annuity mandate awarded by Prudential Financial’s Jackson National Life Insurance Company.

The Curian/DoubleLine Total Return Fund, which is available within Jackson's Elite Access Variable Annuity investment platform, intends to invest more than 50 percent of its net assets in mortgage-backed securities, according to Los Angeles-based DoubleLine. The fund can also bet on junk bonds, bank loans and credit-default swaps.

Elite Access is a variable annuity designed for portfolio diversification through the use of both traditional and alternative asset classes in a tax-efficient vehicle, according to a press release.

"Jackson continually reviews and updates the subaccount options available within Elite Access, enabling advisors to combine investments and strategies from several high-quality managers such as DoubleLine," said Alison Reed, senior vice president of product and investment management for Jackson National Life Distributors.

Gundlach’s $35.4 billion DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund lost 0.2 percent this year through Sept. 20 to beat 89 percent of similarly managed funds and advanced 6.9 percent in the past three years to outperform 97 percent of peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.