Interactive Investor – British fund firm Ashmore Group said it expected the fund-raising environment to remain tough in 2009 as clients continue to cash in investments, after it reported first half profits in line with forecasts.

The group, which specialises in managing emerging market funds, said on Tuesday it sees significant opportunities arising from the turmoil that has hit financial markets, though so far this year it has lost money on its investments.
The group said pretax profit for the six months to end-December fell to 80.3 million pounds ($116.9 million) from 100.9 million a year before.

Assets under management fell 34 percent to $24.6 billion during the period as the group suffered net outflows of $5.8 billion and investment losses of $7.1 billion.

Read Complete Article

Tags: 1-billion, ashmore group, assets-under-management, emerging market funds, financial-markets, interactive investor, investment losses, investments, money, pretax profit, profits, six months, turmoil