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Last checked at 
21 Apr 2020 07:00
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CITY OF LONDON INVESTMENT GROUP PLC
("City of London", "the Group" or "the Company")
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FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AS AT 31 March 2020,
TRADING UPDATE
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City of London (LSE: CLIG), a leading specialist asset management group offering a range of institutional products investing in closed-end funds, announces that as at 31 March 2020, FuM were US$4.4 billion (Β£3.6 billion). This compares with US$6 billion (Β£4.5 billion) as at 31 December 2019. A breakdown by strategy follows:
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FuM ($mn) | Strategy Index | ||||||||
Mar-20 | Dec-19 | % | Net | % | |||||
(estimate) | inc/dec | Flows | inc/dec | ||||||
EM | 3,237 | 4,429 | -27% | (68) | MSCI EM | -24% | |||
DEV | 774 | 1,109 | -30% | (5) | MSCI ACWI xUS | -23% | |||
Opportunistic Value | 231 | 270 | -14% | 30 | ACWI/Barclays Global Agg | -11% | |||
Frontier | 153 | 206 | -26% | 8 | MSCI Frontier | -27% | |||
4,395 | 6,014 | (35) | |||||||
Β Excludes seed investments
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All strategies underperformed over the period due primarily to closed-end fund discount widening and, to a lesser extent, NAV underperformance. This was particularly acute during March in the immediate aftermath of the economic dislocation caused by COVID-19, which prompted selling pressure across all asset classes.
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During the period under review, the Opportunistic Value and Developed strategies recorded combined net inflows of $25 million. The Frontier strategy saw net inflows of $8 million while the EM strategies saw net outflows of $68 million.
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With regard to business development, the Group continues to maintain an active pipeline across all of its major CEF offerings with an increased interest in the diversification CEF strategies.Β
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Operations
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our business continuity plan was enabled with all staff working remotely via audio and secure video communication and full network connectivity to all critical systems with security protocols in place to protect client data.
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The Group's income remains accrued at a weighted average rate of approximately 75 basis points of FuM, net of third party commissions and has not changed as a consequence of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Dividend
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In recognition of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board continues to monitor closely the Group's financial position. Shareholders will be aware that your Board has always ensured the Company maintain a strong balance sheet with significant cash reserves and zero debt as we believe this policy provides a vital financial cushion to weather unforeseen events and market volatility such as that presented by COVID-19. Since it is impossible to know the duration of the current dislocation to economies and stock markets, it would be imprudent at this stage to make any statement regarding the final dividend in respect of the year to 30 June 2020. However, your Board is cognisant of the importance of dividends to our shareholders and will review the position after the year-end.
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For further information, please visit http://www.citlon.co.uk/ or contact:
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Tom Griffith, CEO
City of London Investment Group PLC
Tel: 001-610-380-0435
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Martin Green
Zeus Capital Limited
Financial Adviser & Broker
Tel: +44 (0)20 3829 5000
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