Ashmore assets continue to fall amid retreat
SPECIALIST emerging markets manager Ashmore has once again been hit by a strong dollar and a leak in investment.
In the six months ending 31 December 2014, assets under management fell 15 per cent to $63.7bn (£41.7bn) as investors pulled $4.5bn from the company.
Average assets under management were $71.2bn – eight per cent lower than at the same time a year earlier.
Ashmore’s total stock market investments fell $6.2bn, largely down to the group’s disposal of a 30 per cent interest in a Chinese real estate joint venture.
However, on the upside, Ashmore’s pre-tax profit improved 37 per cent to £110.7m, while net revenues increased 22 per cent to £164m, from £134.6m in 2014.
Ashmore chief executive Mark Coombs is insistent that emerging markets can still offer attractive near-term returns for the company.
“The financial year started positively in emerging markets, with many of the sources of uncertainty that had previously weighed on sentiment steadily being resolved,” he said.