Assets fall at Hargreaves and Ashmore
EMERGING markets-focused asset manager Ashmore’s shares tumbled as much as seven cent yesterday as it revealed it has lost more than 10 per cent of its assets in the quarter to September.
But fellow asset manager Hargreaves Lansdown’s shares rose two per cent as it attracted new clients despite a drop in overall assets.
Analysts across the board moved to cut their forecasts for Ashmore, following a rocky three months in emerging markets that have battered Ashmore’s assets down to $58.9bn (£37.5bn), from $65.8bn in June, though it is up from $41.6bn last year.
The drop was driven by $7.1bn of negative performance in its range of funds, with the largest falls coming in local currency, multi-strategy and equities products.
This weak performance was offset by $200m of net inflows, mainly into multi-strategy themes.
Ashmore, which joined the FTSE 100 in mid-September at 410p, closed down four per cent at 318p yesterday.
The firm remained upbeat about its strategy, however, saying in a statement: “In our experience over many cycles these market conditions provide some of the best investment opportunities.”
Singer Capital Markets said consensus estimates are likely to fall by ten per cent in light of the update. “It shows that in the space of a month, everyone’s figures can go out of date pretty quickly,” said another analyst.
Hargreaves Lansdown also reported a 9.3 per cent drop in assets under management to £22.3bn yesterday, but its shares rose as some funds outperformed the tumultuous markets.
The company said net new business inflows of assets during the three months to 30 September were up 24 per cent from a year earlier at £680m.
Revenue within the Vantage service, the group’s direct‐to‐private investor platform, increased by 32 per cent to £44.1m, despite a 10 per cent drop in the value of assets held within the service, which the firm attributed to market volatility.