* Man Group AUM flat at $228.7 billion, missing analyst
expectations
* One client withdrew $6.1 billion from long-only
systematic equity strategy
* Volatile markets, especially after Strait of Hormuz
closure, impacted hedge fund flows
LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) – Man Group shares
fell on Thursday after the company reported a client pulled $6.1
billion from one strategy in the first quarter during which
total assets under management stagnated.
Man Group shares fell as much as 7% in early trading in London,
before recovering somewhat to show a near-5% loss on the day.
The company’s stock is still up 9% for the year so far.
The company said assets under management remained largely flat
at $228.7 billion, missing analyst expectations, in a quarter
dominated by volatility stemming from the Iran war.
Investors redeemed a net $1.6 billion from the overall hedge
fund in the first quarter. Positive performance in several funds
and other client inflows helped stem outflows.
The London-listed hedge fund declined to comment on the
outflows, which were the highest since 2024, when the company
saw a similar chunky redemption also from a single client.
Man Group’s long-only fund performance was mixed in the first
quarter, but took some losses, particularly in its Man
Continental European Growth fund, which at March 31 had returned
a negative 10%.
The consensus among analysts, according to a note from Morgan
Stanley, was for the hedge fund’s total assets to rise to
$233 billion, from the $227.6 billion it had as of December 31.
Man Group said in a footnote in its sparse first-quarter update
that one client had redeemed $6.1 billion from its long-only
systematic equity strategy. The company declined to comment.
“Excluding this (one-off client withdrawal), long-only flows
would have been positive, reflecting an allocation decision
rather than performance,” analysts at Jefferies said. “While
systematic long-only flows were weak this quarter, they have
historically been lumpy (in both directions).”
Man Group’s long-only credit strategies, which posted a
flat performance, had net inflows of $2.2 billion, against a
backdrop of concern among global investors about the health of
private credit this year.
Hedge funds globally have been whipsawed by volatile trading
since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in early March that
has choked off a fifth of the world’s daily energy supplies,
clouding the global economic outlook and prompting recession
fears.
This has meant mixed performance for different hedge fund
strategies so far this year. Systematic hedge funds, whose
algorithms ride market trends until they peter out, were up on
average over 7% so far this year in to end-March, according to
Societe Generale.
Hedge funds tracked by research firm PivotalPath, which
covers the wider industry, returned roughly 1% in the same
period.
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