However, at least one huge investor is sticking with PIMCO. CalPERS, the retirement plan for California public employees, confirmed it will remain a PIMCO client after news of Gross’ departure broke.
Trading in the Total Return ETF surged more to than 2,200 percent of its three-month average Friday, according to Bloomberg.
Volume in BOND was elevated last week prior to the Gross news because on Tuesday the Wall Street Journal reported the SEC is probing PIMCO regarding pricing issues at BOND that potentially could have inflated returns advertised to prospective investors. However, the Journal also acknowledged “It isn’t clear any of the actions by Pimco that are being examined are improper. It can be difficult to ascertain proper valuations in the debt markets, especially for bonds that are relatively small in dollar terms or don’t trade frequently.”
Although volume was high in BOND in the latter stages of last week, ETF liquidity providers noted spreads remained tight in the ETF and fund never traded at a noticeable discount or premium to its net asset value. [BOND Deals With SEC Probe]
PIMCO Total Return ETF
