George Soros’s firm pulls $ 500 m from Bill Gross of Janus

NEW YORK (Reuters): Bill Gross just got a huge vote of ‘no confidence’ from billionaire investor George Soros.

Soros Fund Management LLC, which Soros chairs, pulled its roughly $ 500 million from an account run by Gross at Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. The trade publication Pension & Investments earlier reported on the outflow.

The $ 500 million had been managed through a private investment vehicle named Quantum Partners LP and invested in a separate account. The portfolio followed the strategy that Gross was employing in his Janus Global Unconstrained Bond fund, which has been struggling with poor performance and outflows.

So far this year, the fund is posting negative returns of 1.47% and lagging 74% of its peer category, according to Morningstar.

The withdrawal by Soros is particularly significant for Gross as his Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, which has $ 1.4 billion in assets under management, holds more than $ 700 million of Gross’ personal money.

Soros Fund Management’s Chief Investment Officer Scott Bessent last year approached Gross after he resigned from Pimco in late September, the source said, adding that the fund had considered Gross a legend. Gross co-founded Pimco in 1971 and built it into one of the largest investment firms in the world, managing $ 2 trillion of pension, endowment and retirement money.

Soros Fund Management, founded in 1969 by George Soros, was reported to be one of the most profitable firms in the hedge fund industry in 2010, averaging a 20% annual rate of return over four decades.

Janus shares were up nearly 2% at $ 15.79 on Monday. A spokeswoman at Janus declined to comment on the Soros news.