AllianceBernstein's assets rise 7.4% for quarter, up slightly for year

AllianceBernstein had assets under management of $554.7 billion as of March 31, up 7.4% from three months earlier and up 0.9% from a year earlier, the company disclosed in its first-quarter earnings report Thursday.

Net inflows across the firm totaled $1.1 billion in the first quarter vs. net inflows of $800 million in the fourth quarter and net outflows of $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2018.

Net outflows from institutional investors totaled $4.7 billion in the quarter, driven by taxable fixed-income redemptions, according to an earnings presentation, compared with net inflows of $1 billion in the previous quarter and net outflows of $2.8 billion in the year-earlier quarter.

By asset class, AllianceBernstein's actively managed strategies experienced net inflows of $2.2 billion during the first quarter. Active equity strategies had $1 billion in net inflows; and active other strategies, which includes multiasset and alternatives, also had $1 billion in net inflows. Active fixed-income strategies had $200 million in net inflows during the period.

Among passive strategies, only the other category experienced net inflows, with $100 million. Passive equity and fixed-income strategies had net outflows of $800 million and $400 million, respectively.

First-quarter revenue totaled $795 million, down 1.1% from the prior quarter and down 8.3% from the year-earlier quarter.

Net income for the first quarter totaled $159 million, down 20.3% from the fourth quarter and down 23.2% from the first quarter of 2018.