Funds under management at the UK fund giant Man Group grew by $28.1 billion in the three months to the end of December 2010, bolstered by the acquisition of former rival GLG in October, which added $25.4 billion to the firm’s managed assets.

With this growth, funds under management stood at $68.6 billion at the end of last year, the world's largest listed hedge fund business said. (Although a UK-quoted firm, its assets are denominated in dollars).

A breakdown of the changes in funds under management at Man shows that, aside from the GLG acquisition, there was a $1 billion net outflow of client money, while investment performance counteracted this and increased the firm’s AuM by $2.8 billion.

“The quarter saw positive flows into alternative styles, but a single large redemption resulted in an outflow from lower margin long-only funds,” said Peter Clarke, the firm’s chief executive.

He added that the GLG integration had gone well, “with cost synergies on track”. Following on from this, a new venture called Man Systematic Strategies has been established, to develop quantitatively-based investment ideas drawing on both firms’ resources.

“Two new products will be launched from this initiative very shortly,” said Clarke.

According to Man’s interim management statement, the group’s financial position is “strong”, with a regulatory capital surplus of $300 million and $1.8 billion in cash at 31 December 2010.