Pressure mounts on Gross as fund plummets down rankings

Bill Gross's PIMCO Total Return Bond fund performed worse than 94% of peers last month, putting more pressure on the fixed income guru who is already facing increasing scrutiny over his management style.

The fund missed its benchmark target in March by 40 basis points, the FT reported, with outflows also continuing to mount. Investors pulled $3.1bn from the fund in March, the eleventh consecutive month of outflows, which have now reached $52.1bn since last April.  Gross is in the 85th percentile year-to-date, and in the 88th percentile in the last twelve months. Earlier this year the manager was criticised for forcing the departure of co-CIO Mohamed El-Erian, who left following a public disagreement with Gross. The fallout caused Morningstar to downgrade the firm's 'stewardship'...