High-profile bond manager Bill Gross put more than $700 million of his own money into a fund he manages at Janus Capital Group Inc. the firm’s chief executive has acknowledged.

In a conference call Thursday to discuss the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings, Janus Chief Executive Richard M. Weil said Gross’ investment in Janus’ Global Unconstrained Bond Fund representing the bulk of the inflows into the fund was a sign that Gross had confidence in his own strategy.

He fundamentally believes that investing alongside of clients aligns interests, Weil said. He believes in eating his own cooking.

The fund had $1.37 billion under management as of the end of the year, according to Morningstar.

The news of Gross’ investment came as Janus reported fourth-quarter earnings. The company said net income was $46.7 million, or 24 cents per share, compared with $38.3 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.

For the first time since the second quarter of 2009, Janus reported positive net inflows overall, which totaled $2 billion in the quarter, including the Gross investment.

Analysts said the fact that Gross made the large investment was a double-edged sword.

Jeff Tjornehoj, a senior research analyst at Thomson Reuters’ Lipper mutual-fund research firm, said along with aligning Gross’ interest with other investors, the additional funds were likely needed to allow Gross to make complex trades that often require large amounts of capital.

His last job involved shepherding hundreds of billions of dollars, he said. This is sort of like taking an NFL coach and expecting him to perform coaching a Pee Wee team.

On the other hand, analysts said, Gross’ sizable personal investment pointed up the relatively small amount of outside money that so far has followed him to his Janus fund.

It’s surprising we haven’t seen more money move to the fund, said Michael Herbst, Morningstar’s director of manager research. If you think back to the days around Gross’ departure, the fear was that all the money was going to leave Pimco and go with Gross, and that hasn’t transpired.

A Janus spokeswoman declined to comment on the investment beyond Weil’s remarks.

Starkman reported from New York and Khouri from Los Angeles.