PIMCO has announced that it is changing the name, strategy and management team behind its flagship fund – the actively managed Pimco Total Return Active ETF (NYSE: BOND).

Bill Gross, PIMCO co-founder.

As of 8 May 2017, the fund will be renamed the Pimco Active Bond ETF and its managers — Scott Mather, Mark Kiesel and Mihir Worah — will be replaced by David Braun, Jerome Schneider and Daniel Hyman.

The fund currently comprises a diversified portfolio of high quality bonds that is actively managed in an effort to maximize return in a risk-controlled framework. It invests primarily in investment grade debt securities, and seeks to maintain a portfolio duration within two years (plus or minus) of the benchmark Barclays US Aggregate Index. The fund offers a core bond strategy that is designed to capitalize on opportunities across multiple sectors of the fixed income market.

PIMCO has stated the objective of changing management team and fund strategy is to deliver more income for clients and to focus on long-term objectives. In a note to investors, PIMCO said: “Our investment style will be more strategic or long-term in nature, with less emphasis on short-term, more tactical trading strategies.”

The ETF will maintain its current ticker code and management fee of 0.55%.

Once boasting the title of the largest actively-managed ETF with assets under management in excess of $5.2 billion in 2013, investor demand for BOND has waned following the departure of the fund’s manager and PIMCO co-founder Bill Gross in 2014, amid an SEC investigation into whether PIMCO had inflated returns on the fund. Current AUM in the fund is just shy of $2bn.

PIMCO ended up paying $20 million in charges, without admitting wrongdoing, to settle the investigation. It has since enhanced its policies for security valuation, the company said. Gross now works for Janus Capital.

Mather, Kiesel and Worah will still manage the original mutual fund version of BOND.