State Street Global Advisors had $2.689 trillion in assets under management, as of March 31, down 13.7% from three months earlier and 4.1% lower than a year earlier, parent State Street Corp.'s earnings release Friday showed.
During a call with analysts, Ronald P. O'Hanley, president and CEO of State Street Corp. said the decline of SSGA's assets in the current quarter was due to some extent to poor equity market returns, but noted that the decline was offset by total net inflow of $39 billion driven by cash and institutional investors.
By comparison, SSGA experienced net outflow of $3 billion in the previous quarter and net inflow of $73 billion in the first quarter of 2019.
The breakdown of SSGA's net inflow in the quarter ended March 31 was:
- Cash net inflow totaled $32 billion in the first quarter, compared to net outflows of $11 billion in the prior quarter and net inflow of $24 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
- Long-term institutional strategies attracted net inflow of $10 billion in the current quarter vs. net outflow of $16 billion in the previous quarter and $52 billion in net inflow in first quarter 2019.
- ETFs had net outflow of $3 billion in the current quarter, $24 billion of net inflow in the prior quarter and net outflow of $3 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
State Street Corp. had under custody and administration $31.684 trillion as of March 31, down 7.3% from Dec. 31 and down 2.4% from March 31, 2019.
SSGA's investment management fees totaled $449 million in the first quarter, down 3.4% from the previous quarter and up 6.9% from the year-earlier quarter.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for the global economy," Mr. O'Hanley said in a statement accompanying the earnings release. He noted that about 90% of State Street Corp.'s employees are working remotely.
Mr. O'Hanley stressed that there will be no layoffs among the company's global workforce, adding, "I believe this is the right decision for our culture, community and clients."
However, as part of the company's ongoing cost-cutting measures, State Street will maintain its hiring freeze for non-critical employees, he said.
