Bill Gross’s Pimco Total Return Fund, the world’s biggest mutual fund, attracted $2.4 billion last month as it continued to outperform peers.

The 10th straight month of net deposits into the fund contributed to about $14.5 billion in new cash for the year through Oct. 31 and helped lift assets to $281 billion, Chicago-based research firm Morningstar Inc. said in an e-mail. Deposits of $2.8 billion in September were the highest this year.

Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Total Return Fund advanced 9.5 percent this year through last week, beating 95 percent of similarly run mutual funds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The fund lost $5 billion to withdrawals in 2011, according to Morningstar, as Gross endured what he termed “a stinker” after eliminating U.S. Treasurys early in the year and missing a rally when investors rushed to the safety of government-backed debt.

Gross has reduced his holdings of Treasurys and government debt for three straight months. The allocation was 20 percent as of Sept. 30, according to the company’s website, the lowest level since last October.

Pimco, based in Newport Beach, California, is a unit of Munich-based insurer Allianz SE. Allianz said last week its asset-management division contributed “especially” to third-quarter earnings as its funds pulled in more deposits.