18/01/2012

Man Group assets down 15% in 2011

Man Group, the world’s largest listed hedge fund manager, suffered a 15% decline in assets during 2011, the firm’s latest trading statement revealed today.

The drop in funds under management, equating to a loss of $10.2bn, resulted in a total of $58.4bn as of 31 December 2011, down from $68.6bn as of 31 December 2010.

The latest December total came from a trading statement for the final three months of 2011; a period in which the firm saw a fall in assets of 9.5%, down $6.1bn from $64.5bn as of 30 September 2011.

Net outflows for the final quarter of 2011 totalled $2.5bn. Man’s trend-following manager, AHL, was hit particularly hard during the three months, recording disappointing performance and seeing net redemptions of $0.8bn.

The quarterly results were in line with analysts’ predictions and considered largely attributable to net outflows and poor performance, particularly during October at AHL.

A release by analysts at RBC Dexia said the news was “broadly in line with our forecasts” and that the balance sheet, $600m, was “stronger than we anticipated”.

Also announced today, Noam Gottesman, founding partner of Man acquisition GLG Partners, has stood down as co-CEO of GLG, becoming non-executive chairman of GLG’s business and interests in the US. The move sees Manny Roman become sole CEO of GLG and continue as COO of Man Group.