Legal & General assets rise 3% in 2018 as international flows surge

Legal & General Investment Management's assets under management grew 3% over the 12 months ended Dec. 31 to £1.015 trillion ($1.34 trillion) despite volatility within financial markets during the final three months of the year.

Legal & General Group, the money manager's parent company, recorded external net inflows of £42.6 billion in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, compared with £43.5 billion in net inflows for 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2017, a financial update Wednesday said.

AUM from international clients was up 13% for the 12-month period to £258 billion.

Net inflows across the international business totaled £19.6 billion for the 12 months to Dec. 31, compared with £33 billion for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2017.

In the U.S., LGIM saw net inflows of $15.2 billion, or a 2% increase, in assets under management to $192 billion from a year earlier. In the 12-month period, LGIM also saw net inflows of £6.8 billion in the Middle East region from sovereign wealth funds and £3 billion in Asia.

LGIM recorded £15 billion of net inflows in its U.K. institutional business compared to £16 billion inflows in 2017 on U.K. defined benefit clients implementing derisking strategies by transitioning from index into a broad range of liability-driven strategies. In the second half of 2018, LGIM saw net flows of £12.1 billion from U.K. defined benefit funds.

LGIM's defined contribution business attracted net inflows of £8.4 billion for 12 months ended Dec. 31, growing 18% to £71 billion, compared with £60 billion at the end of Dec. 31, 2017.

The remaining inflows were in U.K. retail strategies.

"2018 was a pivotal year for the business, surpassing £1 trillion in assets under management and building on the momentum of recent years in which we have delivered consistent growth," LGIM CEO Mark Zinkula said in a news release. "International expansion has been a strategic priority, and we have made significant investments and key hires to ensure we have the right platform for long-term growth in all of our key markets."