Gam has hailed a trickle of inflows into its equity funds as encouraging, despite being battered by another quarter of outflows.
The Zurich firm’s fund arm saw assets slide from CHF 34.8bn to CHF 33.4bn in the three months to 30 September.
This was largely due to net redemptions which climbed to CHF 1.2bn (£950m) in the third quarter. Negative market and FX movements subtracted an additional CHF 200m (£157.7m).
Clients continued pulling money from its fixed income strategies, which leaked CHF 600m (£473m), while its systematic funds also shed CHF 700m (£551.9m).
However, Gam CEO Peter Sanderson (pictured) said he was “encouraged” by the slow and steady turnaround in its equity strategies, which are net positive flows year-to-date.
Gam equity funds continue attracting net inflows
Gam’s equity division was the only one to report net inflows over the third quarter. Its strategies took in CHF 100m (£78.9m) during the period, matching net client inflows for the first six months of the year.
While the Swiss manager said inflows were driven by a “variety of funds” it singled out the Gam Star Disruptive Growth, Gam Luxury Brands Equity, Gam Star Japan Leaders and Gam Swiss Small and Mid-Cap strategies as the biggest contributors.
Gam’s equities desk is one of several areas of the business it has overhauled this year. Last month it “realigned” its global equities team, under lead Mark Hatwin, axing 17 roles from its Lugano office and shuttering five funds worth €285m (£220m).
The move also saw several fund managers joining the team, including Gam Luxury Brands Equity Strategy manager Swetha Ramachandran, which now oversees $2.5bn in assets.
See also: Gam axes 17 jobs as it closes £220m worth of funds
Private labelling business hit by lost mandate
Groupwide assets across Gam slumped to CHF 103bn (£81.2bn) in September, an 18% drop from CHF 126bn (£99.3bn) at the end of June.
Most of this was down to its private labelling business which racked up net outflows of CHF 20.8bn (£16.4bn), though this was nearly all down to a single longstanding client transferring CHF 20.7bn to a rival provider as part of a “broader strategic relationship”.
The lost mandate, which the Swiss manager first flagged in January, will have an “immaterial impact on revenues,” it said.
In July Gam revealed its private clients and charities business would be rebranded as Gam Wealth Management, with the firm looking to grow its presence in Singapore and extend its reach in Switzerland and the UK. Current Private Labelling boss Martin Jufer will lead the newly overhauled division.
Elsewhere Gam said its technology platform upgrade continues to make good progress. It expects this to generate CHF 15m of costs savings in FY 2021, which will be published on 17 February 2022.
