Retail investors help assets rise at Henderson
ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN fund manager Henderson Group attracted £1.2bn of net new money in the three months to the end of September, helped by improving investor confidence.
In a trading statement yesterday, Henderson said the inflows, as well as positive investment performance, helped lift assets under management by 4.3 per cent to £70.8bn.
The net inflows were double the amount forecast by analysts at Numis, although the performance of Henderson’s funds during the quarter was weaker than expected.
Henderson is one of several asset managers such as Ashmore Group and Jupiter to have reported strong inflows in the last few months, as rallying stock markets and healthier economies attract clients into investment funds.
Andrew Formica, Henderson’s chief executive, said each one of the geographical areas where it does business saw “substantial increases in net flows” during the quarter, and positive flows outweighed client withdrawals in equities for the first quarter since the start of 2011.
“The net inflows into our retail businesses are testament to both improved investor confidence and our consistently strong investment performance across our core product ranges,” he added.
Retail clients added net inflows of £1.3bn during the quarter, Henderson said, while the institutional business saw a small net outflow.
Henderson’s shares closed flat.