DoubleLine's Gundlach sees Brexit likely to fail despite lead in polls

(Reuters) - Jeffrey Gundlach, the chief executive of DoubleLine Capital, said on Tuesday that Britain would likely not exit the European Union, despite the "Leave" campaign leading in several recent polls ahead of the June 23 referendum.

"I believe 'Stay' will prevail," said Gundlach, the influential investor known on Wall Street as the "Bond King" who manages $60.3 billion through his DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund, on an investor webcast.

Multiple polls this week showed the "Leave" campaign ahead of the "Remain" side, sending global stocks and the pound down over fears that confusion and uncertainty would follow Brexit.

Gundlach, whose Los Angeles-based firm DoubleLine Capital oversees $100 billion in all, said polls reflect people's complaints and frustrations rather than the actions they will actually take.

"I believe that 'Leave' is over-polling, it's punching above its weight class," Gundlach said. "When it comes up for a vote, I think it will fail."

While Britain never adopted the euro as its currency, its exit from the continental union would be "the beginning of the end of the euro zone," Gundlach said.

Bond yields in peripheral countries such as Italy and Spain have been rising amid concern that a British "Leave" vote would lead them to also do the same, Gundlach said.

(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby)