Jeffrey Gundlach Resource Page

“I’ve been at this game for about 30 years, what I’ve learned is that in the world of finance you tend to make money slowly and lose money quickly, and the idea is to not be there when you have potential for downside movement.” — Jeffrey Gundlach.

Jeffrey Gundlach: Background & Bio

Jeffrey Gundlach is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of DoubleLine. He is recognized as an expert1 in bond and fixed income investments. His investment strategies have been featured in leading publications including The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Barron’s, Forbes, and Fortune. In 2010, Mr. Gundlach was named to the SmartMoney Power 30. In 2011, he was featured as “The King of Bonds” in Barron’s, and named one of “5 Mutual Fund All-Stars” by Fortune Magazine. In 2012, he was named one of the “50 Most Influential” by Bloomberg Markets magazine. In 2013, he was named “Money Manager of the Year” by Institutional Investor. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College summa cum laude holding a BA in Mathematics and Philosophy. He attended Yale University as a PhD candidate in Mathematics.

Jeffrey Gundlach: DoubleLine

Jeffrey Gundlach is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of DoubleLine. DoubleLine was founded to offer investment services under a cardinal mandate: striving to deliver better risk-adjusted returns. This mandate includes the avoidance of risk-taking that historically has led to catastrophic principal losses. DoubleLine emphasizes the importance of security selection, trade execution, portfolio construction, sector allocation, resourcing of the firm’s personnel and systems, and ultimately ownership structure of DoubleLine itself. Employee-ownership reinforces the stability of the investment teams and its accountability: no outside decision makers stand between the teams and our valued clients. In fact, the name “DoubleLine” voices our cardinal mandate: like a careful motorist on a winding mountain road, the manager must not cross the double line into the oncoming lane of risk.

DoubleLine investment process

DoubleLine Capital LP was founded to offer investment services under a cardinal mandate: striving to deliver better risk-adjusted returns. This mandate includes the avoidance of risk-taking that historically has led to catastrophic principal losses.

DoubleLine emphasizes the importance of security selection, trade execution, portfolio construction, sector allocation, resourcing of the firm’s personnel and systems, and ultimately ownership structure of DoubleLine itself. Employee-ownership reinforces the stability of the investment team and its accountability: no outside decision makers stand between the team and its clients.

In fact, the name “DoubleLine” voices a cardinal mandate: like a careful motorist on a winding mountain road, the manager must not cross the double line into the oncoming lane of risk.

DoubleLine follows the same general investment philosophy, including sector-focused strategies, such as Mortgage-Backed Securities, Global Developed Credit and Emerging Markets Fixed Income, including Fixed Income Asset Allocation and Multi-Asset Growth Strategies. While investment processes vary in adaptation to the particulars of asset class and strategy, the following general principles are embedded across investment groups:

  • DoubleLine Capital believes that all investments need to start with risk analysis, not the traditionally taught benchmark comparisons. In their view, it is not how investments compare to benchmarks, but how their risks relate to each other across a portfolio. Risk integration techniques enable DoubleLine to build what is believe are more successful portfolio foundations.
  • Investment ideas must offer an asymmetric, positively skewed risk-reward profile. In other words, selected securities and, in Core-type portfolios, sector overweights must appear, through careful analysis, to offer to greater potential payoff than potential loss.
  • Portfolios must be constructed with an aim to outperform under a range of future scenarios. In other words, DoubleLine shuns risk-taking based on unidirectional forecasts regarding interest rates, default rates or other variables that drive return.
  • No one can consistently predict changes in the level, direction or term structure of interest rates. DoubleLine does not manage portfolios based on attempts to anticipate changes in rates.
  • Securities are to be selected for the potential to build par value. Never chase incremental income at the expense of the potential to build par value.
  • Portfolio managers actively head trading operations. By definition, portfolio managers are the most seasoned traders. Their experience is irreplaceable in the stoppage of trading leakages as well as rapid vetting of time-sensitive market opportunities.

DoubleLine research

DoubleLine research archives

Jeffrey Gundlach: Quotes

“Perhaps a better explanatory factor, however, is that loads of money is being plowed into taxable bond funds.”

“Pimco Total Return’s rebound in flows isn’t surprising given the fund’s recovery in performance and the fading memory of Bill Gross’s missed call on Treasuries in 2011.”

“Investors have never refused to give modifications or principal reductions where it was in the best interest of the consumer. Nevertheless, if you are going to use private label securities to pay the fine, we look to see a cap put on that.”

“Congress can be persuasive in terms of oversight and what happens next … It is all about the continuing impact on bondholders and borrowers.”

“We want to make clear to all what the investor wants…”

“No one is trying to scuttle this.”

“It is a very easy decision right now to not be making further investments in risk assets.”

“I think crude is going to have to reach at least $150 or $160-$170 a barrel in order to see $5 a gallon gasoline.”

“However, everyone you speak to say the Israelis will have a go at striking at Iranian nuclear sites. The day that happens, you have to believe the Iranians throw a few mines in the Strait of Hormuz and, for a few hours at least or maybe more, I cannot see a scenario where prices would not be at that sort of level [$150].”

“I used to think this would never happen.”

“If these [Mideast] fears become more fervent, on either a real or a perceived basis, then crude oil prices could jump again.”

“The West’s determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is coming at a price — a price that might include a second global recession triggered by an oil shock.”

“Basically, growth has flatlined.”

“Now that we have several months of definitive hard data, this is not a forecast.”

“You might also at some point have a well-meaning attempt to address this absurd amount of government borrowing to fund the spending outlays. If you do that, you will go into a recession immediately.”

“When you see volume decline and you see insider selling at a high level, you’re already seeing the market showing cracks, and it’s already there.”

“That’s usually about as negative as the consensus gets, and usually I warn my clients that when you start hearing a predominance of that method of thinking it’s about as close as you’re going to come to a sell signal…”

“I’d say that’s because the great majority of money managers never say, ‘take money out’…”

“When I look at the pricing in the market today, I see a good chance of downside movement of some significance.”

“The pricing of the market has returned to the levels prior to the scales falling from investors’ eyes regarding the global financial crisis, and I really don’t think that’s appropriate.”

“It is an awfully easy decision right now to not be making further investments in risk assets.”

“We have to pass the health care bill to see what is in it.”

“There is a belief among fund families that they have to be everything to everybody.”

“Strong global liquidity, continued loose monetary policy, favorable global PMI and U.S. unemployment data, expectations of a second round of LTRO at the end of January for the Eurozone (€500 billion to €1 trillion) and a lack of bad news coming out of Europe…”

“The fact that the RiverNorth/DoubleLine Strategic Income Fund has reached its capacity in just over one year is quite an accomplishment, especially in the current market environment…We are committed to ensuring that our fund’s assets don’t exceed a level where they would alter or impact the Fund’s investment strategy, which was our primary driver in deciding to soft-close the fund.”

“The fact that the RiverNorth/DoubleLine Strategic Income Fund has reached its capacity in just over one year is quite an accomplishment, especially in the current market environment … We are committed to ensuring that our fund’s assets don’t exceed a level where they would alter or impact the Fund’s investment strategy, which was our primary driver in deciding to soft-close the fund.”

“There’s a belief among fund families that they have to be everything to everybody.”

“To believe that this time we are really out of the woods and the prices will not drop again is dangerous. People made that argument a year ago.”

“As a money manager, you can’t close your eyes to that potential outcome.”

Jeffrey Gundlach: News

Jeffrey Gundlach: Newspaper cuttings

Jeffrey Gundlach: Videos

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