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LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Ashmore Group said on
Thursday assets under management fell by $3.1 billion during the
third quarter of 2021 due to a mix of negative investment
performance and institutional money managers pulling back
investments.
The UK-listed emerging markets-focused investment group said
its AUM dropped to $91.3 billion in the three months to
September 30 from $94.4 billion in the prior three-month period.
Net outflows of $1 billion over the period were influenced
by a small number of large institutional redemptions but there
was also a small net outflow from intermediary retail clients,
Ashmore said in its statement.
"Investors have focused increasingly on the global growth
outlook, including the impact of higher commodity prices, supply
chain challenges and China's ongoing reforms," Ashmore CEO Mark
Coombs said.
However, Coombs added that a number of factors such as
rising vaccination rates, easing restrictions and central banks
hiking interest rates, making yields more attractive, were all
not reflected in current valuations.
Credit Suisse warned in August that the firm's exposure to
Chinese debt was dragging down its returns.
Researchers at Morningstar said in late September that
Ashmore retained significant holdings in debt issued by
embattled property giant China Evergrande Group, based
on data current at the end of August.
The firm - a leading asset manager in emerging markets - has
seen its shares drop more than 25% this year following a nearly
17% decline in 2020.
Ashmore said it had won new mandates in external debt,
blended debt, local currency and equities in the past three
months to end-September, adding demand for investment grade
strategies continued to be good.
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; editing by Jason Neely)
