The award for best fund manager goes to...

PIMCO's Bill Gross has won Morningstar's award for best fixed-income fund manager three times.

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Morningstar named PIMCO's Bill Gross the best fixed-income fund manager in 2007 on Thursday, making it the third time he's earned the honor from the mutual fund research firm.

Gross avoided exposure to subprime securities and also anticipated the effect that the decline in home prices would have on the broader economy and corporate bonds, Morningstar said.

"PIMCO Total Return has a great long-term record, and PIMCO and Gross' predictions about subprime and the weakness in the economy proved to be right on target in 2007," Christine Benz, director of mutual fund analysis for Morningstar, said in a statement.

The PIMCO Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, outperformed other intermediate-term bond funds last year as well as the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Index, Morningstar said.

In addition to the PIMCO Total Return Fund (PTTDX), Gross manages the Harbor Bond Fund (HABDX). Morningstar named Gross best bond fund manager in 1998 and 2000 as well.

In addition to recognizing Gross, Morningstar named Will Danoff of Fidelity as best domestic stock fund manager of the year. Danoff runs Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) and Fidelity Advisor New Insights (FNIAX). Contrafund has returned an annualized 10.9 percent over the last decade, compared to the 6.2 percent return for the S&P 500 over the same period.

Hakan Castegren of Northern Cross, who manages the Harbor International Fund (HAINX), was named the best international stock fund manager. Harbor International gained more than 20 percent last year.