Vanguard Group is pushing ahead in its efforts to become the world’s largest bond fund. The fund is now just $1 billion away from eclipsing Pacific Investments Management Co.’s (PIMCO) Total Return Fund after investors withdrew a total of $7.3 billion from PIMCO in March. The March monthly statement of assets report showed Vanguard closing the gap at $116.4 billion compared to PIMCO which just barely managed to retain its lead with $117.4 billion in assets.

PIMCO has been leading the sector in assets since 1997 and the recent decline in its fund is largely due to investors withdrawing their funds. They want to lower the risk associated with flamboyant fund managers, in favor of funds that perform more in line with an index. Malvern, PA, based Vanguard is well known for its long term, hands off approach to fund management.

PIMCO has been struggling for a while, as it has now had 23 consecutive months where its funds under management fell due to client withdrawals and as a result is down 60% from its heyday of $293 billion in April 2013. PIMCO’s troubles do not end there however, as the man responsible for much of its success, Bill Gross, left to join competing asset management company Janus Capital Group Inc, in March.

Bill Gross is a familiar face to many investors largely from his appearances on financial news focused television programs as well as his lengthy monthly investor newsletters that go into exceptional detail on every aspect of his funds under management, as well as elements from his personal life. The end result from this turmoil is that Joshua Barrickman, Head of Vanguard’s Total Bond Market Index Fund, has been able to let his performance speak for itself and watch investors line up at the door.

Barrickman’s fund has gained nearly $15 billion in client commitments since 2014 versus PIMCO which has lost $103 billion over the same period. PIMCO’s Total Return Fund has not thrown in the towel yet however, as its performance has shown a marked increase with the fund gaining 3.56% for the last six months ending in March. The competition for the crown is very much still on.