Man Group bucks investor exodus trend with £2.57bn inflows
Man Group said investors pumped £2.57bn ($3.1bn) into its funds last year as it bucked an industry-wide investor exodus that has rocked many of its peers.
In its full year results today, the London-listed asset manager said flows into its funds had sailed past analysts estimate and topped the industry average by 5.3 per cent, while core pre-tax profits jumped 18 per cent to £779m.
Asset managers have been hammered in the past 12 months as soaring inflation and the shocks of war in Ukraine roiled markets and spooked investors.
A host of London’s investment giants have been hit by outflows and sharp falls in assets under management (AUM).
Man Group said its (AUM) had fallen four per cent across the year to £118.68bn ($143.3bn) at the end of December.
The firm’s chief Luke Ellis said in a statement today the year was “another strong period of growth” despite the year being dominated by market turmoil and inflation.
“Our unwavering focus on building strong client relationships globally, together with the range of innovative investment strategies and solutions we offer, resulted in net inflows of $3.1bn during the year,” he said. “This was despite clear headwinds elsewhere in the asset management industry.”
Ellis added that the high inflation environment had been a “real test for active investment management” but the firm had delivered £2.4bn ($2.9bn) of alpha for its clients.
Man Group announced a fresh share buyback programme of £103m ($125m) this morning on the back of the results, after £207m ($250m) worth of share buybacks in 2022.
Bosses are also set to line shareholders’ pockets with a final dividend of 10.1¢ per share for the year, taking the total payout to 15.7¢ per share.
The update sent shares rocketing nearly seven per cent in early trading.