DoubleLine posts $2.2 bln in net inflows in December
(Adds inflows for DoubleLIne Core Fixed Income Fund, comment by money manager, background)
NEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Jeffrey Gundlach's DoubleLine Funds, an investment firm that has been a major rival of bond fund Pimco, reported an 11th consecutive month of net inflows in December, totaling $2.23 billion.
DoubleLine Capital, based in Los Angeles, said on Friday its flagship DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund ended December with net inflows of $1.5 billion, compared with $819 million in November. That brought the fund's net inflows to $7.9 billion in 2014.
DoubleLine's overall net inflows in 2014 were $10.85 billion. The inflows for December compared with inflows for the month of November of $1.16 billion.
The DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund returned 6.73 percent in 2014, beating 90 percent of the peers in its category, according to Morningstar data.
The Total Return Bond Fund, with assets of $40.2 billion, is an intermediate-term, open-end mutual fund that invests primarily in mortgage-backed securities.
"DoubleLine has had exposure to the long end of the curve," said David Schawel, vice president and fixed-income portfolio manager of Square 1 Financial. "DoubleLine's been able to benefit from longer yields falling more than some other peers have."
DoubleLine saw a spike in inflows in September, the same month that Bill Gross left Pimco.
Gross, who managed the Pimco Total Return Fund and co-founded Pacific Investment Management Co more than 40 years ago, resigned on Sept. 26 to join rival Janus Capital Group Inc .
Money coming to DoubleLine from Pimco could largely come to an end in coming months as institutions finalize investment decisions in coming quarters, Schawel said
Gundlach's DoubleLine Core Fixed Income Fund, an intermediate-term, open-end mutual fund that can invest in mortgage-backed securities, corporate bonds and loans as well as emerging market debt and Treasuries, also had another month of inflows.
In December, Core Fixed Income had net inflows of $495 million compared with net inflows of $274 million in November, bringing total net inflows to $1.7 billion in 2014.
(Reporting by Luciana Lopez; Editing by Leslie Adler)
