The Prudential Total Return Bond Fund has outperformed most of its peers, including the flagship fund at Pimco, over three, five and 10 years. Investors have finally noticed.

The fund’s assets have almost tripled in the past year to $11.6 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Some of the more than $7 billion in new deposits came from investors fleeing Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Total Return Fund following the sudden departure of Bill Gross.

The Prudential fund managers have provided a steady hand -- two of them have worked together on it for six years. They returned 4.7 percent over the past five years to beat 90 percent of rivals. Their results have also been more consistent than Pimco’s, topping more than 60 percent of peers in 10 of the last 11 years.

“People looking for other bond funds saw our historical performance, our consistency and the fact that we have a stable team of decision makers,” said Michael Collins, who has co-managed the fund at Prudential Investment Management Inc. since 2009.

Investors pulled about $400 billion from Pimco in the year after Gross left the firm in September 2014 amid a leadership dispute and joined Janus Capital Group. The biggest winners from Pimco’s loss were TCW Group Inc., Vanguard Group, DoubleLine Capital, Dodge & Cox Inc. and BlackRock Inc., each with a fund that attracted more than $10 billion through September 2015.

Mayflower Advisors, which oversees $2 billion in Boston, screened a group of bond funds after Gross’ departure, looking for a substitute for Pimco. It put some of the money in the Prudential fund because of its stability, solid credit quality and low volatility.

Prudential Wins

“When money was in motion, it was a thoughtful alternative,” said Lawrence Glazer, a managing partner at Mayflower.

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