Reports
Man Group Results Highlight Mixed Fortunes For Global Hedge Fund Industry

Latest results from the world's largest listed hedge fund firm highlight some of the ups and downs of this corner of the investment sector, which has often been favoured by types of wealth manager.
Man Group, the
largest listed hedge funds company in the world, today reported
that funds under management crept higher to $55 billion at the
end of March from $54.1 billion at the end of December, with
stronger inflows pointing to a more upbeat investor mood than has
existed for some time.
While latest industry data shows hedge fund returns have hit a
wall in spring, possibly weakening some appetite for these
investment vehicles, Man Group’s own results showed there were
net inflows of $2.0 billion in the first quarter of the year.
Those net figures comprised sales of $6.5 billion and redemptions
of $4.5 billion. There was an overall negative investment
movement of $700 million in the quarter, the firm said in a
statement.
As such a large firm in the alternative investment management
sector, Man Group’s results are something of a bellwether of the
state of the hedge fund industry in general; its listed status
means that, unlike many hedge fund businesses, it has to disclose
results relatively promptly.
"The market environment in the first quarter has been
particularly challenging and March was a very difficult month for
the industry. In this context, performance across the firm was
reasonable on a relative basis,” Manny Roman, chief executive,
said in the statement.
Recent industry data shows the sector has had problems. In April,
on average, hedge funds recorded a decline of 0.17 per cent and
followed the 0.33 per cent decline in March. The industry
performed particularly badly on the equity front, with the HFRI
Equity Hedge Index recording a fall of 0.7 per cent despite the
S&P 500 rising 0.74 per cent in April, according to Hedge
Fund Research, the Chicago-based firm.
Details
Man Group’s flagship AHL Diversified programme fell 2.2 per cent
in the quarter, which was the main driver of the negative
investment movement of $300 million in quant alternatives
strategies; performance in GLG alternative strategies was flat
overall with positive performance in credit strategies being
offset by negative performance in equity and macro
strategies.
Performance at FRM, another set of Man Group hedge fund
strategies, was positive overall which increased funds under
management by $100 million in the quarter. FRM Diversified
strategies were up 0.5 per cent in the quarter.
Most of the firm’s GLG long-only strategies lost ground in the
quarter. The Japan CoreAlpha strategy dropped 5.9 per cent which
contributed to the majority of the negative investment movement
of $500 million, it said.
Discretionary alternatives funds under management rose by 10 per
cent to $18.0 billion during the period, driven by net inflows of
$2.1 billion.