PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSEArca: BOND) is about to hit the $1 billion in assets mark in less than three months of trading, one of the best new product launches ever in the business.

BOND, which is captained by Bill Gross, held total net assets of $965.9 million as of March 18, according to PIMCO. It is the ETF version of the $258.7 billion PIMCO Total Return Fund. [PIMCO Puts Actively Managed ETFs in the Spotlight]

The ETF is the best-performing fund in the intermediate-term-bond category since March 1 and is also outperforming its mutual fund sibling, InvestmentNews reports. [PIMCO Total Return: ETF or Mutual Fund?]

The ETF’s smaller size relative to the mammoth Total Return Fund appears to be an advantage.

“It’s a high-conviction portfolio,” said Scott Burns, director of ETF research at Morningstar, in the article. The smaller size of the ETF also allows it to trade more opportunistically with single issues, Burns added.

BOND last week saw the highest trading volume in its relatively short history.

PIMCO Total Return ETF