By Murray Coleman

Who doesnt know Bill Gross. He helped found the worlds biggest bond fund management shop and has built a long-term performance record that places him among the industrys all-time elite.

But has the Barrons Roundtable member lost his touch guiding the worlds largest bond fund, the Pimco Total Return Fund (PTTRX )? Is it time for more investors to consider emerging rivals such as Jeffrey Gundlach and either his DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund (DBLTX ) or the DoubleLine Core Fixed Income Fund (DLFNX )?

As weve reported here before. Gross sold all of PTTRXs Treasury holdings earlier this year. Although hes waded back into the market a bit since February, Gross told the WSJ in an interview published today that he has lost sleep over the move. He acknowledged it was a mistake.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was at 3.73% on Feb. 8, before beginning a steep fall. The 10-year note is currently trading at a yield of 2.179%. Since yields move in opposite directions as price, PTTRX has underperformed peers whove stuck closer to their benchmarks.

Gundlach in his Core Fixed Income Fund, for example, had about 16.5% in U.S. Treasuries at the end of July, says Morningstar. The category average was around 14%.

DLFNX entered today with a 2011 total return of 8.3%. That compared to the Pimco Total Return Funds 3.2% gain.

As noted by the WSJ report, the Gross-led PTTRX through Wednesday ranked 157th out of 179 intermediate-term bond funds tracked by Lipper so far this year.

Gross in July boosted his stake in Treasuries to 10%, according to data at Pimcos website.

One of those who has been advocating looking to others in a very competitive field is Steven Goldberg of Tweddell, Goldberg Investment Management in Silver Spring, Md.

A key problem he sees Gross facing is so-called asset bloat. Thats where a fund becomes so huge that even minor shifts in portfolios can cause enough ripples in markets to make managers think twice about getting in and out of individual positions.

My hunch is that Gross will still be able to beat the market. But I think it will be by ever smaller amounts,” Goldberg observed in a column for Kiplingers website.

Goldberg flat out recommends that in a highly competitive marketplace investors owe it to themselves to at least consider other options.

His list of suggested replacements include: Pimco Unconstrained D (PUBDX ) and Loomis Sayles Bond (LSBRX ) as well as the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund.

Still, bet against Bill Gross with your eyes wide open. Over the past 15 years, PTTRX has generated average annual returns of 7.6% good enough to land in the top 1% of its class. Over the past 10-year rolling period through Monday, the fund landed in the to the top 4%. And, over the last five-years, Gross has guided the Pimco fund to a top 3% finish against the competition.

Over the past 20 years, Lipper data showed that PTTRX underperformed the benchmark index only four times based on yearly returns —in 1994, 2002, 2006 and 2008.

William Blairs Greig: Watch Your Step In China, Emerging Markets Next

Brazil ETF Up 5%; Russia Remains Positive As Exxon Forms Joint Deal