Man Group records $1bn net inflows as investors jitters ease

Hedge fund firm Man Group notched more than $1bn of net flows into its funds in the first three months of the year and bumped up its assets under management as investors edged back into the market after a turbulent 12 months.

The London-listed investor said its managed assets rose one per cent to $144bn between January and March, while net inflows from clients in the first three months of this year came in at $1.1bn.

Positive currency moves on its finances were offset by “negative performance-linked leverage movements” in the quarter, the firm said.

The flows for the firm come after a tricky year for London’s money managers in which investors have fled turmoil on the markets triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and fuelled further this year by fears of a banking crisis.

Man Group’s absolute return strategy was the most popular investment play across the period, which saw a sharp decline in broader investor sentiment sparked by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the emergency rescue of Switzerland’s Credit Suisse.

Man Group’s CEO Luke Ellis told an industry conference last month that he expected further banks to fail within two years.

Regulators globally have said their actions have stabilised the financial system, while banking stocks have broadly recovered since the bout of volatility in March.

The unit drew net inflows of $1bn, while its overall alternative investments arm drew inflows of $1.6bn. The company’s long-only arm saw net outflows of $0.5 billion.

Analysts at Barclays said that it was a “solid update” with inflows beating analysts’ consensus estimates.

Shares in the firm rose nearly two per cent in early trading before falling to trade down around 0.4 per cent at 10:30am.

Additional reporting by Reuters