Ashmore rebounds thanks to emerging market surge
Emerging markets-focused investment manager Ashmore saw assets surge over the last three months, turning around a years-long trend of poor performance for the asset manager.
Assets under management at the fund house increased by $2.5bn (£1.9bn) over the quarter to 30 September thanks to $3.2bn (£2.4bn) of positive investment performance, with investors only withdrawing $700m (£535m) during the period.
The same quarter in 2023, Ashmore lost $1.3bn (£994m) to investment performance and $2.9bn (£2.2bn) to withdrawals, leading to a nine per cent drop in assets under management.
This stands in stark contrast to this morning’s results: In total, Ashmore’s assets under management increased five per cent, surging to $51.8bn (£39.6bn)
Ashmore has experienced years of withdrawals from investors, which, coupled with the poor performance of emerging markets, has caused assets to dwindle.
The fund manager recorded $8.5bn (£6.5bn) in outflows over for the year to 30 June 2024, leading assets under management to fall 11 per cent over the period.
Over recent years, the group had struggled to make the case for emerging markets with China’s economy looking weak and the Russian invasion of Ukraine killing sentiment in Eastern European markets.
Now, it seems that has all changed.
The success of China’s stock market over the last month has provided a lifeblood for the fund house, with chief executive Mark Coombs citing “robust macroeconomic conditions in emerging countries”, as well as the first rate cutting decision from the US Federal Reserve.
The tailwinds to the sector have led emerging market bond indexes to rise by four to nine per cent over the last three months, while equity indexes rose by eight per cent.
“Ashmore’s active investment processes continued to outperform across both equities and fixed income strategies over the quarter,” the group said.
In total, every single area of the business except its alternative arm saw an increase in assets under management, with its largest (fixed income) increasing by five per cent.
“Investor appetite has been increasing and allocations to Emerging Markets should grow from the low current levels to capture the value available across equity and fixed income asset classes,” added Coombs
“Ashmore’s active investment approach continues to deliver outperformance for clients, and the Group is well-positioned to benefit as client flows to Emerging Markets gather momentum.”