UK fund managers suffer asset declines on shaky markets

By Sinchita Mitra and Yadarisa Shabong

(Reuters) – A quartet of British fund managers said assets under management (AUM) dropped by $9.8 billion in aggregate in the three months to end-September, after a sharp sell-off in UK stocks and bonds in recent weeks compounded longer-held worries about a global slowdown.

Britain’s largest listed hedge fund firm Man Group said its AUM dropped by 2.7%, while rivals Quilter, Rathbones and Liontrust Asset Management booked falls of 2%, 1.7% and 7.3%, their respective statements showed.

Global fund firms, who saw assets under administration boosted during the pandemic are now reporting sliding investor sentiment and dips in the value of the assets they manage, as jitters over inflation and financial stability grow.

“After decades of low inflation and cheap liquidity, we have entered a new environment for investors,” said Liontrust Chief Executive John Ions.

Liontrust reported net outflows of 1.6 billion pounds ($1.80 billion) in the July-September quarter, while Man Group posted net outflows of $500 million, compared with a $900 million consensus forecast.

Quilter saw net inflows slow to 200 million pounds in the third quarter, compared with 1 billion pounds last year, while Rathbones’ net inflows came in at 67 million pounds, following 1.43 billion pounds in outflows.

Shares of Man Group dropped 5.3%, while Quilter shares shed 5%. Liontrust fell 1.2% and Rathbones slipped 0.7% by 0853 GMT.

Man Group, which also reported a negative foreign exchange impact of $4.5 billion, posted AUM of $138.4 billion as at Sept. 30, compared with $142.3 billion at the end of June.

Quilter’s AUM at the quarter end was down by 1.8 billion pounds to 96.9 billion pounds. Rathbones’ AUM fell to 57.9 billion pounds from 58.9 billion pounds at June-end, while Liontrust’s slipped to 31.7 billion pounds over the same period.

“We are reassured by Man’s strong performance for pension funds that have withdrawn assets, and its ongoing message that its clients are only making partial redemptions – leaving the door open to fund flow return in the future,” Credit Suisse analysts wrote in a note.

($1 = 0.8868 pounds)

(Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sinead Cruise; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)