Man Group, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund firm, raised net new money in the three months through June, reversing the previous two quarters of outflows amid widespread withdrawals seen by the industry.
The London-listed company saw $2.5 billion in net inflows during the second quarter, boosting the total for the first half of the year to $900 million, according to a statement July 26. Combined with performance gains, assets under management rose to a record $178.2 billion. Both inflows and assets beat analyst forecasts compiled by the company.
Man Group has been weathering the industry’s persistent outflows, aided by its diversified investment management business ranging from hedge funds, long only, quant to private credit strategies. A company-compiled analysts’ forecast showed the firm would suffer net outflows of $600 million during the first half of the year and predicted assets reaching $177.9 billion at the end of June.
“We aim to further diversify our investment capabilities, notably in quant equity, credit and solutions; to extend our client reach, with a particular emphasis on North America, wealth and insurance channels,” Chief Executive Officer Robyn Grew said in the statement.
The company’s shares rose as much as 3.1% in early London trading on July 26, extending their gains this year to 11%.
Investors pulled $39 billion from hedge funds during the first five months of the year with macro and long/short equity hedge funds suffering the most outflows, according to data compiled by eVestment.
Inflows during the second quarter at Man Group were predominantly led by the firm’s total return and discretionary long-only products. First-half pretax profit rose to $219 million, boosted by management and performance fees, according to the statement.
Separately, Man Group’s Chief Financial Officer Antoine Forterre told Bloomberg Television in an interview on July 26 that the firm sees mergers and acquisitions as a key part of its strategy and credit remains a focus.
He echoed Grew’s statement that growing Man Group’s “credit capabilities is one of our priorities.”
“The focus for us is making sure that we allocate our capital in the most efficient way” he said, adding “we’re not going to rush.” He also said that 40% of the firm’s assets under management are in nondollar currencies.
