Chief Executive Officer of DoubleLine Capital, Jeffrey Gundlach, addressed Bill Gross’s recent comments during the Future Proof conference in Huntington Beach, California. In an interview aired by CNBC, Gundlach expressed indifference towards Gross’s remarks about being the “bond king.” He stated, “I don’t care” and expressed pity that someone who has been out of the business for a decade is still trying to “exorcise the demons.” Despite this, Gundlach wished Gross well.
Gross, formerly known as the “bond king” when he left Pacific Investment Management Co. in 2014, worked at Janus Henderson before retiring in 2019. During the Odd Lots podcast at the Future Proof conference, Gross emphasized that to be a true bond king or queen, one needs a substantial kingdom. He compared Pimco’s $2 trillion with DoubleLine’s $55 billion, asserting that the latter is like Latvia or Estonia compared to the former.
Gundlach rebutted Gross’s comments by questioning whether there is a need to have billionaire “bond kings” in the world. He mentioned that he never sought or embraced that title and doesn’t fully understand its significance. Gundlach clarified that DoubleLine is doing well and manages more assets than the $55 billion Gross mentioned at the conference. According to Gundlach, DoubleLine currently manages around $100 billion. He added that he stopped marketing his largest fund twelve years ago and doesn’t aspire to manage more money than he currently does.
In the bond market, long-term Treasury yields fell while shorter-term rates slightly increased on Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell by 2.4 basis points to 4.263%, while the two-year Treasury yield rose by one basis point to 5.003%, according to Dow Jones Market data.
