Earnings have sunk at three of the largest investment management houses in the US: AllianceBernstein, Janus Capital and Invesco , underscoring how these businesses have been scarred by the financial turmoil and client redemptions, figures show.

AllianceBernstein said net income fell to $6.74 million, or 7 cents per unit, in the three months to 31 March, from $72.6 million, or 83 cents per unit, a year earlier. Its assets under management fell 44 per cent to $411 billion, with net outflows totalling $20 billion in the quarter and reaching $63 billion in the year to end-March.

Invesco, meanwhile said first-quarter earnings plunged 80 per cent. Fees earned from investment management tumbled 41 per cent as the worst financial crisis in decades weighed on Invesco's key equity assets. The company's shares touched a three-week low.

The money manager owns investment firms including AIM, Invesco, PowerShares and WL Ross.

Investment firm Janus Capital Group, meanwhile, said its preliminary first-quarter profit sank more than 92 per cent, but revenue topped analysts’ forecasts and the company's shares climbed.

For the three months that ended 31 March, the company's net income was $2.7 million, or 2 cents per share. That's down from a profit of $37.4 million, or 23 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Revenue sank 39 per cent to $170.3 million, down from $281.2 million during the same period last year. Average funds under management dropped by 9 per cent to $113.1 billion from the same period of 2008, the firm said in a statement.