Man Group's assets under management grew 5.4% in the quarter and 35% in the year ended Dec. 31 to $109.1 billion, bolstered by net inflows and an acquisition.
The firm recorded net revenues of $1.1 billion in 2017, up 33% compared with figures for 2016, and profit increased 87% to $384 million.
Net inflows totaled $12.8 billion for the year, vs. $1.9 billion in net inflows in 2016. The fourth quarter saw net inflows of $1.8 billion, compared to net inflows of $2.8 billion for the previous quarter.
Man Group acquired private markets firm Aalto Invest Holdings in January 2017, adding $1.8 billion in AUM. Foreign exchange and other movements added $2.9 billion to total assets under management in 2017, vs. a $2.9 billion loss in 2016.
In its 2017 financial update released Wednesday, Man Group said it had changed the categorization of its assets under management so it "better represents strategies with similar characteristics."
The categories are alternative and long-only, which are also split into subcategories. Under alternatives are absolute return, which includes strategies that were previously included in quantitative alternative and discretionary alternative categories; total return, including emerging markets debt total return, global private markets, risk premium and collateralized loan obligation strategies; and multimanager solutions, including funds of funds, infrastructure and segregated allocations. Man Group also separated out long-only strategies, into systematic, previously called quant long-only; and discretionary, including convertibles and North American equity.
For the year, AUM in alternative strategies grew 40.9% to $61.7 billion, with net inflows of $11.7 billion. For the quarter, alternative strategies grew 7.7% and net inflows totaled $2.9 billion.
Long-only assets under management grew 28.6% to $47.2 billion for the year, with net inflows of $1.2 billion. For the quarter, net outflows were $1 billion, but AUM grew 2.6%. Guaranteed products recorded net outflows of $100 million over the quarter and the year, with assets under management in these strategies falling 50% for the year, but flat for the quarter at $200 million.
"2017 was a strong year for our business," said CEO Luke Ellis in a statement accompanying the update. "The record net inflows of $12.8 billion reflected not only the outperformance we delivered for clients, but also our focus on deep client relationships."
