Man Group has seen its profits slump 40% in H1 2020 as negative absolute performance and net outflows bring assets under management down to $108.3bn compared to $117.7bn at the start of the period.
However, the fund range delivered relative outperformance of 1.3% over the six-month period on an asset-weighted basis.
The 8% drop in AUM was driven by largely by a $5.4bn hit from investment performance, which in H1 2019 had made a positive contribution of $6.8bn. Net outflows were $1.2bn, similar to $1.1bn outflows for the same period in 2019.
Additionally, negative FX effects and other movements hit AUM to the tune of $2.8bn.
The Man Group results said absolute return strategies had delivered strong performance in Q1, but that this was offset when markets rebounded strongly in Q2 resulting in these products ending H1 slightly down. Nevertheless, on a relative basis Man Group’s absolute return strategies outperformed by 2%.
The GLG Global EM Debt Total Return fund was singled out for strong performance in H1 of 9%, while the GLG Japan CoreAlpha and GLG Undervalued Assets were named for their underperformance, which drove relative underperformance of discretionary long-only strategies to 4.5% overall.
Man Group attributed the poor performance of the two products to their value-biased strategies.
Man Group chief executive Luke Ellis described the first half of 2020 as a “challenging time for everyone”.
“As anticipated, redemptions increased in Q2, but it is pleasing to see flow momentum normalising as we enter the second half.”
