Surprise inflow ends for Man after two years
MAN GROUP, the world’s biggest listed hedge fund, stopped the rot yesterday after luring a surplus of cash from customers for the first time in two years.
The swing back to inflows, which totalled $700m (£433m) for the three months ending September, marks a significant milestone for chief executive Manny Roman, who took over in February.
The positive number was driven by strong interest in the firm’s GLG division, a traditional long short equity hedge fund taken over by Man in 2010. Roman was co-chief executive at GLG at the time of takeover.
“The net inflow in the quarter was driven by institutional flows into discretionary alternatives and long only strategies,” Roman said. “Inflows were linked primarily to stronger performance in the first half of the year and were characterised by sizeable asset flows from certain customers, albeit into relatively low margin products.”
Overall assets under management rose to $52.5bn, with $3.4bn worth of redemptions.
The quarterly inflow is the first time Man has gained a surplus since 2011.
However, the firm’s flagship AHL division – a computer trading programme which uses complex algorithms to make trades – continued to weigh on the firm.
Clients scurried away from the fund – which accounts for a high proportion of Man’s revenues – over the quarter after it underperformed by 8.5 per cent over the past nine months.
Shares in Man Group, which is listed on the FTSE 250, closed up 3.56 per cent on the results.