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Reuters – Anglo-Australian fund manager Henderson Group said first half pretax profit could fall up to 50 percent after revenue was hit by falling markets, hitting its shares on Thursday.
First-half pretax profit fall to 25-28 million pounds ($41-$46 million), including one quarter’s contribution from New Star, the troubled fund management firm it acquired this year, from 50.8 million pounds in the 2008 period.
Reuters – Hedge fund firm Polar Capital said on Wednesday that its assets under management had fallen to $1.54 billion at end-May compared with $3.1 billion at end-March 2008.
The firm said pretax profit for the year to March 31 fell 17 percent to 12.1 million pounds.
Bloomberg - Man Group Plc, the largest publicly traded hedge-fund manager, said it will cut its workforce by about 15 percent after fiscal year profit dropped and assets under management declined by a third.
Assets fell to $48 billion in the period ending March 31, from $75 billion the previous year, London-based Man Group said in a trading statement. Pretax profit will be $1.2 billion, down from $2.1 billion. The median estimate from four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast assets of about $48.6 billion and a $1.14 billion profit.
Marketwatch – Shares in hedge fund manager Man Group jumped around 11% Thursday after the firm maintained its dividend payout and launched a new investment management business.
The firm said it expects adjusted pretax profit for the year ending March 31 to fall around 43% to $1.2 billion from $2.1 billion due to the impact of falling markets and withdrawals by institutional investors.
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.
Independent – RAB Capital, the troubled London-based hedge fund, yesterday agreed to sell its Asian business as it tries to shore up its finances.
The fund manager, which on top of the general woes affecting the industry has made wrong calls including buying shares in now-nationalised lender Northern Rock, said it was selling the assets and business of its loss-making Northwest brand for £1m to its original owners, at a big book loss. As recently as last June, RAB valued Northwest at £20m. However, the sale will allow the fund manager to save between £3m and £4m in costs annually, and a spokesman said that after tax adjustments the writedown would be closer to £9m.
Northwest’s assets under management, held in three funds, were approximately $300m at the end of December. On a pro-forma basis, the business and assets it is selling generated pretax profit of around £9m in 2007, but analysts believe Northwest may have slipped into the red last year.
