Heavyweight bond fund managers Bill Gross of Pimco, Dan Fuss of Loomis Sayles and Michael Hasenstab of Franklin Templeton are used to outperforming their indices year in and year out.

But it’s been rough sledding for the trio in 2011, The Wall Street Journal reports.

For the year to date through last Wednesday, Gross's Total Return Fund rose only 1.68 percent, and Fuss's Loomis Sayles Bond Fund 3.12 percent, both far behind the 6.2 percent increase for the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.
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Hasenstab’s Templeton Global Bond Fund slipped 0.61 percent in the period, trailing the 6.95 percent increase for the Citigroup World Government Bond Index.

Bill Gross (Pimco file photo)

Gross and Fuss were burned by dumping all their Treasurys during the first quarter. A flight to quality amid Europe’s debt crisis and U.S. fiscal stumbles sent the yield on 10-year Treasurys to a record low under 1.7 percent from 3.47 percent as of March 31.

Hasenstab suffered from his long emerging-market bonds position. Those bonds sagged in the third quarter, thanks to the flight to quality that boosted Treasurys.

In a recent letter to investors, Gross apologized and promised better. "There is no 'quit' in me or anyone else on the Pimco premises," he writes.

Morningstar analyst Eric Jacobson says Gross’ short-term setback doesn’t detract from his long-term success. “Mistakes — not existential problems — are at the root of Pimco Total Return's sluggish performance,” he writes in a report.