Bill Gross and the rest of bond giant Pimco are moving past the Mohamed El-Erian era.
In his latest letter to clients, Gross, the co-chief investment officer of the firm that manages $1.92 trillion for clients, did not mention El-Erian by name but asked clients to stick with the firm now that the former CEO is gone.
In fact, the statement could be seen as a fairly bold declaration to begin the firm's post-El-Erian attitude.
"Stick with PIMCO. Believe me when I say, we are a better team at this moment than we were before," Gross said.
(Read more: El-Erian's departure disappointing: Gross)
"I/we take the future challenge faced by all asset managers with close to a sacred trust," he added. "Not the one that the ancients granted to animals, but a more modern one embraced by the relationship of client/fiduciary and the need to be held accountable, sort of like the pigs and locusts in days of old when knights were bold."
El-Erian announced Jan. 21 that he was leaving Pimco in March after leading the company for seven years and becoming, along with Gross, the very public face of a firm whose influence in the market and in the policymaking arena cannot be overstated.
The move came after a relatively dismal year for Pimco. The firm's flagship Total Return Fund, which currently has $237 billion in assets—the largest in the world—saw investors withdraw more than $41 billion. Another $3.5 billion left in January, according to Morningstar.
(Read more: Pimco Total Return Fund rises 1.35% in January)
In his latest missive, Gross sought to assuage investor concerns that the heretofore airtight ship at Pimco was beginning to list.
At the same time, he used the letter—famous in the past for obscure references and traveling circuitous routes to make a point, to warn investors that the road ahead may not be smooth.
Decreasing credit expansion, thanks to contracting U.S. government debt and reductions in the pace of Federal Reserve monthly asset purchases, are likely to take the steam out of the stock market and push returns toward higher-quality bonds, Gross said.
(Read more: Pimco's problem: Who can succeed the 'Bond King'?)
Gross and Pimco made a wrong-way bet in 2013 on interest rates and it cost them in terms of investor confidence.
"In any case, don't be a pig in today's or any day's future asset markets," he said. "The days of getting rich quickly are over, and the days of getting rich slowly may be as well."
—By CNBC's Jeff Cox. Follow him on Twitter @JeffCoxCNBCcom.
