Charlemagne and Liontrust assets rise

Fund manager Liontrust saw funds under management rise in the three months to September, as conditions in equity markets stabilised.Funds rose to £1.28bn from £1.12bn in at end June. Institutional funds rose to £371m from £302m with retail funds up to £908m from £821m over the three months."Liontrust has begun to stabilise after the most challenging six months for the business since it was established in 1995. Net fund outflows slowed substantially in the second half of the period, we are adding Ross Hollyman and his team to our existing fund management capability and we successfully launched the Liontrust European Absolute Return Fund in July, for which we have raised nearly £20m in assets so far," chief executive Nigel Legge said.Hedge fund group Charlemagne also saw assets under management rise over the past six months, rising by 9% since 1 January 2009 to US$2.4bn end June reflecting improving market conditions. Profits for the year tumbled.Charlemagne made pre-tax profits of $1.3m against $13.2m last time as revenue fell to $9.5m from $30.3m.Assets are still down significantly on the $5.7bn of this time last year and net management fees of $8.4m were 67% lower versus June 2008, reflecting the impact that the fall in global emerging markets.But the investment case for emerging markets remains strong, with de-coupling to continue, Charlemagne said."The recovery experienced during the second quarter has continued, with Assets under Management increasing by 17% to $2.8bn since the end of June to date,' Jayne Sutcliffe, chief executive, added. Liontrust Asset Management