Fund Overview
Summary
A core bond choice for millions of investors
For over 20 years, PIMCO Total Return Fund has delivered consistent results by focusing on high-quality bonds and by adhering to PIMCO’s total return philosophy and proven risk management discipline.
Why Invest in this Fund
Provides a solid core fixed-income holding
The Fund is a true core bond holding, focusing on high-quality intermediate-term bonds and aiming to avoid concentrated risk exposure. It also employs a variety of value-added strategies across the global bond markets to increase total return potential and reduce overall risk. Of course, interest rate fluctuations may cause its share value to rise or fall.
Managed by one of the world’s foremost fixed-income investment teams
With an experienced management team led by renowned PIMCO founder and co-CIO Bill Gross, the Fund provides investors with a dynamic, flexible vehicle for changing times. Bill and his team have won Morningstar’s coveted “Fixed-Income Manager of the Year Award” three times (1998, 2000 and 2007).
Consistent results over more than two decades of economic change
Throughout its history, the Fund has sought consistent, solid results in both up and down markets. PIMCO has helped the Fund weather a range of crises, such as the 2008 subprime housing meltdown, by identifying market risk early and making adjustments that benefit its shareholders.
Investment Process
The top-down investment process begins with our annual secular forum where we develop a three- to five-year outlook for the global economy and interest rates. Quarterly meetings are then held to discuss how the outlook applies to upcoming three- to 12-month periods and to forecast specific influencing factors, including interest rate volatility, yield curve movements and credit trends. Taken together, these sessions set the basic portfolio parameters, including duration, yield-curve positioning, sector weightings and credit quality. Bottom-up strategies, including credit analysis, quantitative research and individual issue selection, are then meshed with the top-down strategies to add value. We may at times use futures to replicate bond positions.** This strategy can offer the opportunity to outperform physical bond securities due to the relative pricing of the futures contracts and PIMCO's active management of the collateral backing the futures.
