AUM top ?420bn at Schroders in the first quarter

(Sharecast News) - Schroders' assets under management have risen to more than £420bn, the fund manager said on Thursday.As at 31 March, total AUM were £424.4bn, the firm said, compared to £407.2bn at 1 January. Within that, asset management AUM increased from £363.5bn to £377.9bn, while wealth management rose to £46.5bn from £43.7bn. Schroders owns the wealth manager Cazenove Capital.Schroders said its institutional business had grown assets by £10bn to £252.3bn, while assets in its intermediary business rose from £121.2bn to £125.6bn.The firm did not provide further comment, however, nor did it detail any split between net flows and market movement.Shore Capital called the update "underwhelming". Analyst Paul McGinnis said: "We view the update as a little disappointing. Given the strong positive move in markets in the first quarter, the relatively modest increase in AUM in the asset management division would suggest that it continued to experience net outflows in the quarter."We continue to struggle a little with the investment case for Schroders. While it offers investors a well-diversified AUM base, by both asset class and geography, and a solid management team, we prefer those business models with have greater ability to monetise periods of strong investment performance, such as Polar Capital and Man Group."Since closing [at] 2,375p on 7 December, the shares have recovered strongly, up 33%. Today's statement may temper that momentum." Shore has a 'buy' rating on Polar Capital and Man Group, and a 'hold' on Schroders.Shares in Schroders were largely flat in morning trading, down 9p at 3,156p by 1000 BST.