Inflation Outlook
Gross' fund has returned 7.23% in the past year, beating 85% of its peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It gained 1.39% over the past month.
As the Fed maintains its target rate at a record low range of zero to 0.25% and has made an increase in inflation a cornerstone of its monetary policy, Gross noted that inflation may be a bigger factor than many suggest.
Gains in so-called headline inflation matter more for the U.S. economy than Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke suggests and rising oil prices may cut U.S. gross domestic product by a quarter to half a percent point, Gross said March 4 in a radio interview on "Bloomberg Surveillance" with Tom Keene.
"Bernanke tends to think this doesn't matter--at least in terms of headline versus the core--we do," Gross said.
Pimco's U.S. government-related debt category can include conventional and inflation-linked Treasuries, agency debt, interest-rate derivatives, Treasury futures and options and bank debt backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., according to the company's website. The fund can have a so-called negative position by using derivatives, futures or by shorting.
Derivatives are financial obligations whose value is derived from an underlying asset. Futures are agreements to buy or sell assets at a later specific price and date. Shorting is borrowing and selling an asset in anticipation of making a profit by buying it back after its price has fallen.
Pimco, a unit of the Munich-based insurer Allianz SE, managed $1.24 trillion of assets as of December.