Janus now could double or triple those bond assets again as money follows Gross, said Dan Sondhelm, partner at SunStar Strategic, a financial services consulting company in Alexandria, Virginia.

"No salesman could do that," Sondhelm said. Investor cash flows could start to gather steam by the first quarter of next year, he said.

For Gross, the shift to Janus means giving up one of the industry's biggest paychecks, a reported $200 million a year, if for no other reason than the fund he will manage is a fraction of Total Return Fund's size. Gross has a net worth of $2.3 billion, according to Forbes.

"He didn't come for big money upfront, he came to build a fund" and other products, said a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Janus likely has put together a pay plan that would reward Gross for drawing assets into products he oversees, a key measure of success in the fund industry, said Todd Sirras, managing director at pay consulting firm Semler Brossy, which has worked with Janus in the past.

Gross, 70, wasn't available to comment. A Janus spokesman said executives including Weil wouldn't comment.

"Janus's move to hire Mr. Gross strikes us as precipitous, coming two days after last week's multiple news reports about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of alleged improper valuation and performance reporting in Pimco's $3.6 billion Total Return exchange-traded fund," Moody's said.

"If the SEC determines that these allegations are true, it would not be clear what liabilities – both legal and reputational – might attach to Mr. Gross."

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