Man Group sees FuM rise, but AHL struggles continues

Man Group, the hedge fund manager which has seen its share price plummet over the last two months, has reported a slight increase in funds under management (FuM) in the first quarter.

FuM at March 31st was $59bn, up from the $58.4bn reported at the end of the previous financial year, but lower than the $64.5bn reported at the end of September 2011. The group said it managed to reduce net outflows during the quarter and saw a positive investment movement of $2bn with strong performance in its GLG strategies.

Net outflows totalled $1bn in the period (compared with outflows of $2.5bn in the fourth quarter of 2011) reflecting sales of $3.1bn and reduced redemptions of $4.1bn.

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The recent falls in the stock, which has lost around one-third of its value since the start of March, have been in part due to the performance of its flagship AHL fund, leading to much takeover speculation in the market. AHL's FuM fell from $21bn at December 31st to $19.5bn at March 31st, well below the $24.4bn reported at the end of September 2011.

Man Group reported foreign exchange and other movements of a negative $0.4bn, "driven by guaranteed product degears after negative AHL performance in the rebalancing period".

"After a strong start to the year, markets came back under pressure in March and drove greater dispersion in investment performance across our industry. GLG negotiated these conditions well and continued to make money for investors, but performance at AHL turned negative as markets reversed," said Chief Executive Peter Clarke.

"Against this backdrop, redemptions reduced but investor sentiment remained fragile and we are yet to see an increase in sales," he said.

Nevertheless, the firm said it continues to take action on costs and is still on track to deliver the $75m of savings announced in January.

BC