Ashmore bats away emerging market worries
FUND manager Ashmore Group yesterday defied sceptics to deliver a solid set of full year results, despite fragile investment markets threatening to reduce the pot of money it manages.
Ashmore, led by billionaire chief executive Mark Coombs, posted a 22 per cent rise in assets under management (AUM) to $77.4bn (£49.2bn) for the full year ending June. AUM is a key measure of how well a fund manager is performing.
The company manages money in countries like China, Brazil and Turkey – so called emerging markets – which have seen a dramatic sell off over the past three months over fears the US Federal Reserve will roll back its supply of cheap money.
Group finance director Graeme Dell told City A.M. the company was urging investors to pour more money into emerging markets because prices were now very low.
“We see an opportunity from here. We recognise that you see an effect in the levels of our AUM, in that if the market sells off, our overall levels of AUM will fall,” he said.
“But then it’s all about convincing investors the timing is right to add new AUM or for existing investors to top up. We continue to be successful in that mission.”
Dell added that the company would tap more ordinary savers in markets like the US to grow the business in future. Domestic investors in emerging markets were also a growing source of cash. Almost a third of its assets belong to overseas investors.