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LONDON (Alliance News) - Polar Capital Holdings PLC on Thursday reported a fall in assets under management over the first nine months of its financial year, while fellow AIM-listed investment manager Miton Group PLC saw an increase over course of 2015.
Shares in Polar Capital were down 3.3% at 416.33 pence on Thursday morning, while shares in Miton were up 6.2% at 28.15p.
Polar Capital, which offers a range of hedge funds, UCITS, and investment trusts, said assets under management dropped to USD11.88 billion on December 31 from USD12.26 billion on March 31, although the figure was higher than the USD10.93 billion recorded at the half year point.
Net redemptions from its funds deducted USD369.0 million from Polar's assets under management over the nine months, although there was a return to form in the most recently completed quarter as the company saw net inflows of USD341.0 million.
"Our main Japan fund continued to see redemptions but at a much reduced level compared to previous quarters," Polar said. However, for the first time since 2008, the group's Forager fund did not contribute to the overall performance fees, as it was "marginally down" for the year.
Net performance fees amounted to GBP3.0 million in the nine month period, which was "somewhat lower" than than Polar would have expected at the start of the year, down from GBP5.4 million the corresponding period the prior year.
"The short-term outlook for markets is highly uncertain although we remain optimistic on the outlook for growing our assets and profits over the longer term given the breadth of our product offering and the long-term performance record across our funds," Polar said.
Miton Group, which offers equity and multi-asset funds, as well as managing investment trusts, oversaw an increase in assets management to GBP2.78 billion as of December 31 from GBP2.05 billion at the start of 2015. The figure stood at GBP2.36 billion on August 31 that year.
The increase came thanks to net inflows of GBP463.0 million, as inflows into equity funds and investment trusts more than offset outflows in the multi-asset arena, while positive market and investment performance across the board added GBP271.0 million.
Miton said it expects adjusted pretax profit for 2015 to be at least in line with expectations.
"Inflows gained significant momentum in the final two quarters of the year. The favourable underlying traction we have built at Miton means we are well positioned to continue to deliver for clients in future years, notwithstanding that our funds are not immune from market headwinds. Our business is in a strong position to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise in what continues to be a volatile and uncertain market," Chairman Ian Dighé said.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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