Man Group returns to positive fund flows
Hedge fund manager Man Group expects to see $700m (£437m) in net fund inflows in the quarter ending at the end of this month as it returns to positive capital flows.
Man expects to hold $69bn in funds under management at the end of the month as sales of $5.3bn outstrip redemptions worth $4.6bn, it said in its pre-close trading update.
The world’s largest listed alternative investment group said its $1.6bn acquisition of rival GLG had proved positive and helped offset a poor performance in its Man AHL business.
“We have fundamentally reshaped our business and delivered positive performance across a comprehensive range of liquid alternative investment styles,” chief executive Peter Clarke said.
But it added that full-year pre-tax profit would be hit by impairment charges from loss of goodwill in its Multi-Manager business and would fall to $280m from $541m in 2010.
Its sale last week of its 25.5 per cent stake in high-performing fund manager BlueCrest back to the company has pushed its regulatory capital to $850m while net cash grows to $900m, it said.
But market volatility after the catastrophes to hit Japan caused its performance to turn “sharply down” though this has partially recovered since.
“March brought an extraordinary concentration of macro shocks. Chief among these was the Japanese earthquake, which led to decreased risk appetite and increased volatility in markets,” Clarke said.