(July 28): Man Group Plc hit a 16-year high after the company’s assets jumped to a record in the first half of the year as clients poured money into the firm’s long-only investment strategies and strong performance gains helped drive growth.
Assets under management at the world’s largest listed hedge fund firm soared to US$253.6 billion (RM1 trillion) in the first half of the year, according to a statement Tuesday. That’s up from US$228.7 billion at the end of the first quarter, and beat company-compiled analyst estimates by a wide margin, which had anticipated assets under management to reach US$245.1 billion.
Asset growth over the six months through June was driven by US$19.8 billion in performance gains, as well as net inflows of US$7.1 billion, which were largely directed into long-only strategies, according to the statement. Analysts had expected US$1.6 billion in net flows over the period.
Shares in Man Group jumped as much as 9% in early London trading to reach 327.2p, the highest since 2010.
“In today’s markets, clients are consolidating their relationships with a smaller number of highly capable, strategic partners who can help them manage complex risk and growing macroeconomic uncertainty,” Man Group chief executive officer Robyn Grew said in the statement.
Man Group’s asset growth is the latest sign of the industry’s bumper first half. Hedge funds returned an average 7.4% in the six months through June, the best since 2009, according to data compiled by research firm PivotalPath.
That’s whetting investor appetite, with giants including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council planning to allocate tens of billions between them to the industry.
“If you go beyond the numbers what is particularly pleasing is the broad-based nature of the growth you are seeing and the investment performance we are generating,” Man Group’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer Antoine Forterre said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “Our main multistrat is up around 7.9% and that is the best representation of the alpha we have been able to generate for clients.”
London-based Man Group runs a range of investment products from hedge funds and quantitative money pools to long-only strategies. Last year, the investment firm began offering its first ETFs, with the launch of two actively managed bond funds.
Man Group was founded in 1783 by James Man as a barrel maker-cum-brokerage on Harp Lane, London. Over the next two centuries, it supplied rum to the Royal Navy and traded commodities such as coffee and sugar before eventually focusing exclusively on financial services.
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