Man Group has smashed through $100bn under management as it reports record inflows and beats expectations
Asset manager and hedge fund house Man Group has broken through the $100bn under management barrier, as it today reported record inflows over 2017 and results which exceeded expectations.
Funds under management swelled by 35 per cent over 2017 to $109.1bn (£79bn), thanks to record net inflows of $12.8bn.
Meanwhile Man’s profit before tax flew in at $384m, nine per cent ahead of consensus expectations and 87 per cent higher than last year.
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However, Man Group’s chief executive Luke Ellis did ring some warning bells with investors as he addressed recent investment performance.
“In common with others, the recent moves in markets have impacted our investment performance in some areas, particularly for our momentum strategies,” Ellis said. “However, looking forward Man is well positioned, with strong fundamentals, investment in innovative strategies and a continuing pipeline of interest from clients.”
Momentum strategies, where an investor places bets on assets where the price has been trending upwards, suffered a knock when global equity markets stumbled into sudden volatility at the beginning of February.
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FTSE 250-listed Man Group’s share price had fallen 5.14 per cent by the close today, though the dividend was up from 10.4¢ to 10.8¢.
Management fee margins were slightly down, which Man put down to investors throwing money into lower margin strategies. Quant strategies, which use complex algorithms to detect investment opportunities, and Man’s discretionary investment division GLG saw particularly strong inflows.
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