Three asset managers of different sizes and specialisms saw their assets under management rise in the third quarter.
BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, says its assets under management rose 3% in the third quarter to $3.67 trillion (€2.8 trillion), which was 10% more than the company had in the same quarter last year.
Jupiter Fund Management, a mid-sized UK manager, says its assets under management rose 6% in the third quarter to £24.9 billion (€31 billion).
Man Group, a UK-listed hedge fund manager, saw its assets under management rise 14% in the quarter to $60 billion (€46 billion). However, this gain was largely a result of its acquisition of FRM Holding, a fund of hedge funds manager.
The results are broadly positive for an industry that has seen mixed performance in recent years owing to volatile markets.
BlackRock’s asset rise came despite an institutional fixed income outflow of $74.2 billion, which the company says it chose not to rebid for because the fees were so low. Excluding this outflow, the company had a net inflow of $31.3 billion in long-term products.
BlackRock says its operating income in the quarter was $876 million and that its earnings per share were at a record level.
Jupiter saw £795 million of net mutual fund inflows in the third quarter, but also had a £170 million outflow from its segregated mandate business and a net outflow from its private client business of £46 million.
Its inflows were predominantly into funds positioned towards the cautious end of the risk spectrum, such as Merlin Income, Strategic Bond and Global Convertibles, supported by several large deals, the company says.
Overall net inflows for the quarter were £579 million, held back by the loss of a UK equity segregated mandate and the remainder of a large private client portfolio, following the withdrawal in the first quarter of the first half of their assets.
Man Group’s acquisition of FRM Holding, which closed in July, added $8.3 billion to the company’s assets under management. This helped to offset outflows of $2.2 billion in the quarter.
“The flow environment continues to be challenging and this was reflected in lower sales in the quarter,” says Peter Clarke, chief executive of Man Group.
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