Flows in the first half of the year were considerably weaker over the period, with outflows totalling £763m.
Over the second half of the year ended 31 March 2017, the group experienced a noticeable turnaround, taking in net inflows of £533m.
Despite this, favourable exchange rates boosted assets under management by 27% in sterling terms to £9.3bn and 12% in dollar terms to $11.6bn.
In the two months following the end of the reporting period, AUM grew to £9.8bn.
Pre-tax profit also came in lower, dipping from £23.6m to £20.4m.
The results come shortly before CEO Tim Woolley is due to hand the reins over to Gavin Rochussen, former CEO of J O Hambro Capital Management (pictured).
The asset manager reported positive net inflows across eight of its twelve strategies over the financial year, but its Japan, Global Emerging Markets, European long/short absolute return and North America long-only strategies struggled to weather “the challenging industry conditions.”
Its Japan Ucits fund was the main culprit behind the continued outflows, though the firm added it was seeing a “sharp improvement” as the “team’s style has returned to favour.”
Since reaching its peak size of $5bn in 2014, the fund has dwindled to $931.2m (£732.2m) as at 26 May 2017.
Assuming the Japan fund has stabilised, however, Cantor Fitzgerald director of financial research Keith Baird predicted “Polar should see a continuation of positive net inflows in FY 18.”
