Gross Offers No Apologies For TIPS Losses

On April 19, three weeks before he said the 30-year bull market in bonds was over, Bill Gross announced he was buying TIPS—Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities.

In doing so, the bond guru bet that money printing by the world’s central banks would push up consumer prices. While the price of conventional Treasuries subsequently fell as he had predicted, so did the market’s fear of inflation, driving down the value of TIPS. That amplified losses for Gross’s $268 billion Pimco Total Return Fund (PTTRX), which fell 4.7% in May and June, prompting $9.9 billion in withdrawals last month, the most on record.