AMG's assets dip 0.8% in quarter, up 6.7% for year

Affiliated Managers Group reported $824.2 billion in assets under management as of June 30, down 0.8% from the quarter ended March 31 and up 6.7% from a year earlier, according to its earnings statement Monday.

Total net inflows were $4.3 billion in the quarter, up sharply from net outflows of $1.9 billion in the previous quarter and net inflows of $1.8 billion in the year-earlier quarter.

The influx of net new cash went to a variety of strategies managed by the firm's 33 boutique investment manager affiliates, led by net inflows into alternative and global equity investment strategies, said CEO Nathaniel Dalton during a conference call with analysts.

Net inflows into alternative investment strategies, including real estate, private equity, private credit, infrastructure and credit, totaled $2.6 billion in the quarter ended June 30, compared to net inflows of $5.6 billion in the previous quarter and $4.7 billion in the second quarter 2017.

Jay C. Horgen, AMG's chief financial officer, said on the call that inflows into liquid and illiquid alternative investment strategies were roughly equal in the quarter ended June 30. He noted that commitments to illiquid investments in July to date already have exceeded the total in the second quarter.

Global equity net inflows in the second quarter 2018 totaled $1.9 billion, a quarterly record for the firm, Mr. Dalton said on the call. By comparison, global equity strategies had net outflows of $4.8 billion in the prior quarter and net inflows of $200 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Global equity net inflows in the most recent quarter were driven mainly by retail investors, Mr. Dalton said, but stressed to analysts that institutional investor net inflows in the asset class also were strong.

Multiasset strategies experienced moderate net inflows of $200 million in the quarter ended June 30 vs. net inflows of $300 million in the previous three-month period and net inflows of $100 million in the second quarter 2017.

U.S. equities continued to see net outflows, with $400 million pulled from those strategies in the quarter ended June 30, compared to $3 billion of net outflows in the prior quarter and $3.2 billion a year earlier.

Net inflows from institutional investors totaled $5.3 billion in the three months ended June 30, up sharply from net outflows of $6 billion in the first quarter 2018 and net inflows of $1.4 billion in second quarter 2017.

Mutual fund net outflows were $500 million in the second quarter, compared to net inflows of $3.4 billion in the prior quarter and net outflows of $400 million in the three months ended June 30, 2017.

Flows from AMG's high-net-worth individual investors were down a net $500 million in the quarter ended June 30, compared to net inflows of $700 million $ in the first quarter 2018 and net inflows of $800 million one year earlier.

AMG's assets under management for institutional investors were $477.3 billion as of June 30, down 0.8% from the end of the previous quarter but up 4.4% from June 30, 2017.

AMG's assets under management for retail mutual fund investors were $231.2 billion at the end of the second quarter, down 1.7% from March 31 but up 11.6% from a year earlier. High-net-worth client assets totaled $115.7 billion as of June 30, up 0.9% from three months ago and up 7.5% from end of the second quarter 2017.

By asset class, alternative investment AUM as of June 30 totaled $322 billion, down 2.2% from March 31 and up 8.7% from a year earlier. Global equity assets were $283.3 billion, down 1.3% vs. the end of the prior quarter but up 5.7% from a year earlier. U.S. equity assets totaled $116 billion, up 3.2% from March 31 and up 4.8% from a year earlier. Multiasset strategies were $102.9 billion at the end of the three months ended June 30, an increase of 0.6% over the end of the prior quarter and up 5.9% from June 30, 2017.

Second-quarter revenue totaled $600.1 million, down 2% from the first quarter 2018 and up 5.1% from the year-earlier quarter.

Net income was $117 million in the quarter ended June 30, down 23.5% from the previous quarter and down 7.4% compared to the second quarter 2017.