Speaking at a presentation of its annual results, Peter Clarke, chief executive of Man, explained how he is continuing plans to build Man into “the industry’s most comprehensive provider of liquid alternative investment styles”.
Clarke says the firm sees "considerable growth potential" in marketing GLG strategies as well as in the creation of new GLG products. A priority for the new financial year will be to continue to build out GLG single-manager strategies, as well as combining GLG capabilities with Man’s own AHL and Multi-Manager offerings.
It is now to launch a new GLG currency fund in June – the first into Japan through GLG – that will be domiciled in Japan and at outset will be aimed at Japanese investors. A spokesperson for the company said there are no plans yet to bring the product into the UK though this could not be discounted at a future date.
Earlier this month, Man launched its open-ended, quant-based Nomura Global Trend Fund through its AHL team. It is an onshore Japanese fund investing in a combination of assets via three currency baskets that now has $2bn in assets.
Clarke was able to report an increase in funds under management from $39.4bn at the end of March 2010 to $69.1bn a year later. This has since increased by the $2bn.
Fund flows since the end of last year include the assets from Nomura Global Trend as well as $400m from Man IP220 GLG, the first guaranteed product to include GLG strategies.
As part of a push towards a Ucits-compliant fund range, the firm now has £10bn in Ucits assets and a further $1bn under management from Man Systematic Strategies. MSS is a business unit established at the beginning of this year, headed by Sandy Rattray, formerly in charge of systematic strategies at GLG, that combines AHL, Man Multi-Manager and GLG capabilities.
Future plans for the group as a whole, Clarke explained, include moving investment management closer to its markets, including Hong Kong, and the launch of a renminbi share class of AHL.
