Pimco Total Return posts $2 billion net outflow in November

By Jennifer Ablan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors pulled $2 billion of net cash from the Pimco Total Return Fund, once the world's largest bond fund, in November, bringing year-to-date total cash withdrawals to $12.9 billion, Morningstar said on Wednesday.

The Pimco Income Fund, widely seen by investors and analysts as Pimco's new flagship fund, posted net inflows of $661 million last month, for a year-to-date total cash inflow of $12.1 billion, Morningstar data showed.

"Pimco Total Return Fund is lagging its Lipper peers in 2016 and is below average on a three-year basis," said Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF & Mutual Fund Research at CFRA. "In contrast, Pimco Income Fund is outperforming its own peer group in both periods."

Pimco Total Return, which hit a peak of $292.9 billion in assets under management in April 2013, now has assets under management of $78.5 billion. Pimco Income Fund, which is overseen by Dan Ivascyn, now has assets under management of $68.15 billion, Morningstar data show.

So far this year, the Pimco Total Return Fund has posted returns of 2.18 percent, lagging 74 percent of its intermediate-term peer category, according to Morningstar data. For the same period, the Pimco Income Fund has posted returns of 7.86 percent, surpassing 68 percent of its multisector bond category, Morningstar added.

Pimco declined to comment on the Morningstar data.

Pimco, a unit of German insurer Allianz SE, is based in Newport Beach, California, with more than $1.55 trillion in assets under management as of Sept. 30.

Like BlackRock Inc and Janus Capital Group Inc, Pimco adds dividend reinvestments into its inflow figures. Research organizations such as Morningstar and the Investment Company Institute, along with many fund managers, including Vanguard, Fidelity and DoubleLine, exclude reinvestments and treat only fund share purchases as inflows.

(Reporting By Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Bill Trott and Jonathan Oatis)

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