BlackRock Inflows

Pimco’s largest competitors had already been benefiting this year as investors have moved away from the firm’s Total Return into top-performing rivals as well as flexible funds that can protect from rising interest rates. Pimco’s Total Return Fund has trailed competitors this year, trailing 62 percent of its peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Rick Rieder, who oversees more than $600 billion as CIO of BlackRock Inc.’s fundamental fixed income, said there’s interest among investors for flexible strategies and unconstrained funds. BlackRock’s Strategic Income Opportunities Fund has attracted more than $8 billion this year through August.

“There’s continued interest in strategies that don’t take on too much interest rate risk, are more stable and have low volatility,” Rieder said.

Rieder declined to say if BlackRock’s strategies have attracted money since Gross’s departure. A BlackRock exchange-traded fund that invests in traditional fixed income, the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, has reported $752.3 million of inflows in two days after his exit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That represents a 4.1 percent increase in shares outstanding in the $19.2 billion fund.

MetWest Fund

Among more traditional strategies, the $32.9 billion Metropolitan West Total Return fund has advanced 4.4 percent to beat 70 percent of competitors this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, compared with Pimco Total Return’s 3.3 percent return. The fund, managed by a team led by Tad Rivelle, has added more than $7.6 billion in assets this year, including the impact of market appreciation, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. TCW manages about $141.6 billion in assets.

Doug Morris, a spokesman at Los Angeles-based TCW, declined to comment on investor deposits into the company’s funds.

Gundlach Returns

Gundlach’s $35 billion DoubleLine Total Return has returned 5.3 percent this year, beating 92 percent of peers. The fund’s assets have increased by almost $4.5 billion this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Gundlach, who specializes in mortgage-backed securities, said in an interview that Gross discussed with him the possibility of joining DoubleLine, which manages more than $52 billion, before announcing he was going to Janus.

Gundlach said DoubleLine received hundreds of millions of dollars on Sept. 26 after Gross quit, the most money gathered in a day this year and the second-highest client deposits since the Los Angeles-based firm started in 2009.

Western Asset Core Plus Bond Fund, run by Legg Mason’s bond unit, has seen money come in this week, said Mary Athridge, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore-based firm. The fund has advanced 6.1 percent this year, beating 93 percent of peers.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has seen increased interest in its fixed-income offerings this year as investors have focused on the potential for rising rates. Priscilla Hancock, global fixed- income strategist at New York-based JPMorgan, declined to say how much the firm has attracted since Gross quit.