Gundlach fires back at report saying investors are fleeing his biggest fund

Reuters / Jessica Rinaldi

Jeffrey Gundlach wasn't thrilled about a recent Wall Street Journal story about the shrinkage of his biggest fund, so voiced his displeasure on Twitter.

Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal published a story that highlighted declining assets under management for "bond king" Jeffrey Gundlach's DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund.

After holding as much as $61.7 billion in assets last September, the fund saw outflows in each of the next nine months and saw that number fall 13% to $53.6 billion as of July 31, according to The Journal. That happened during a time when competing funds took in net inflows of 7.2%, the report said.

The Journal attributed the flagging interest to the fund's slowing outperformance relative to peers. While the Total Return Bond Fund beat 90% of its competition over the previous three- and five-year stretches, it's outpacing them by just 59% in 2017, according to data from Morningstar.

Gundlach was less than thrilled with the story, and he used his Twitter account to voice his displeasure. Here's what he had to say about it hours after publication:

Gundlach also took issue with the anecdotal evidence The Journal used to support the theme that investors are fleeing his biggest fund. What most drew his ire was the mention of a retired orthodontist in Tucson, Arizona, who's pulled $250,000 from the bond fund over the past 18 months, citing a lack of extra return.

The story also specifically cited Castle Financial & Retirement Planning Associates as a disenchanted former investor. Not to mention René Bruer, the co-chief executive at Smith Bruer Advisors who reportedly pulled all of his money from the Total Return Bond Fund in 2015 amid concerns of overreliance on Gundlach.

This isn't the first time Gundlach has responded sharply and publicly to reports made by the media. He's had a combative online history with various news outlets since launching his Twitter account this spring, when he took aim at journalists he says misquoted his comments at an investment conference.

It's also not the first time he's had The Journal in his crosshairs. Gundlach got wind of the story in the weeks leading up to its publication, and he was already trying to discredit it before it was released. These four tweets are from last week:

While Gundlach's response to the Journal story doesn't change the data-driven findings included within, it does show that the so-called bond king isn't going to take negative reports lying down.

After all, his outspoken style and strong conviction are part of his appeal to some. And now only time will tell whether he has the last laugh.