LONDON (Reuters) – British hedge fund manager Man Group on Wednesday reported a 5% increase in assets under management in the first half, boosted by performance in its computer-driven strategies, even as the company saw an outflow of client cash.
At the end of June, assets under management were $114.4 billion, up from $108.5 billion at the end of December and $112.3 billion at the end of March.
The world’s largest listed hedge fund saw net outflows of $1.1 billion in the first half of 2019, compared with $8.3 billion of net inflows a year ago. The net outflows were higher than an average analyst expectation of $1 billion, according to a company-supplied poll.
Adjusted pretax profit rose 3% to $157 million, against expectations of $138 million.
Market gains of $6.8 billion contributed to the rise in AUM, said Man Group, which was founded as a sugar cooperage and brokerage in 1783.
Assets and profits were pushed up by the firm’s computer-driven funds while other parts of the business had a more mixed performance, said Man Group Chief Executive Luke Ellis, adding that clients continued to reduce their equity exposure into the third quarter.
“We enter the second half of 2019 with good performance fee earning potential,” he said.
Man Group said it would pay an interim dividend of 4.7 cents per share compared to 6.4 cents per share a year earlier.
Reporting by Lena Masri; editing by Carolyn Cohn
Source : Reuters
