Man Group shares jump as assets under management rise 22% to record

By Nell Mackenzie

LONDON (Reuters) -Shares of Man Group hit a six-month high on Friday, after the hedge fund posted a 22% increase in assets under management to a record $213.9 billion in the 12 months to September 30, beating expectations, over a year of intense market volatility.  

Analysts had expected a rise in assets to $201.7 billion, according to Jefferies.

Shares in Man Group were recently up 2.6% in London, at their highest point since early April. 

Man Group took in $10 billion of investment performance, a 177% jump from the previous quarter, accounting for half of the capital that was added to its assets under management since the second quarter of 2025.

"It was a big quarter for net flows, easily exceeding our - or market - expectations," Rae Maile, a research analyst at broker Panmure Liberum, said.

"Importantly there was no 'one big win' in this quarter, but (there is) evidence of continued strong growth in areas which the company did not play in a few years ago, most notably credit," Maile said.  

Assets under management (AUM) include a combination of new client flows, performance and leverage. 

Man Group, which operates a host of different strategies and funds, posted its strongest performance in its long-only strategies. These funds trade emerging and developed markets equities and bonds, only betting that these assets will rise in value. 

Man Group's systematic long-only funds added $4.8 billion in investment performance and saw $6.5 billion in new client cash.

Hedge fund returns so far this year show a stark divide between those that have been able to navigate U.S. President Donald Trump's erratic decision making and switch tactics quickly and those hemmed in by algorithmic strategies. 

Systematic hedge funds, whose algorithms ride market trends until they peter out, have clawed back earlier losses, but are still down around 2% for the year to September-end, according to a Societe Generale report this week.   

Hedge funds tracked by research firm PivotalPath, which covers the wider industry, returned over 8% in the nine months to the end of September.

(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Amanda Cooper)