By Simon Jessop
LONDON (Reuters) - Henderson Group (L:HGGH) became the latest fund management company to take in fresh investor money during the third quarter, even as weak markets led to a dip in overall assets under management.
The asset manager took in net new money in the three months to end-September of 1.3 billion pounds, on the back of strong demand from retail clients for European assets, particularly those accessed through income and absolute-return strategies.
But total assets under management (AuM) fell 0.7 percent to 81.5 billion pounds from 82.1 billion pounds at June, after the group was forced to take a 1.9 billion pound hit from market and currency losses.
During the quarter, the FTSE 100 (FTSE) dropped more than 7 percent on global growth concerns, principally in China, while the euro strengthened 4.2 percent against the pound.
Henderson's assets under management hit mirrored results from rival UK asset managers during the quarter including Ashmore (L:ASHM), Man Group (L:EMG) and Jupiter Fund Management (L:JUP).
Looking ahead, Chief Executive Andrew Formica said: "We expect market conditions to remain challenging and regulatory oversight of asset managers to continue to intensify."
Shares in Henderson were up 1.5 percent by 0848 GMT, outperforming in a 0.2 percent weaker FTSE mid-cap index (FTMC).
Flagging Henderson as a core holding within the asset management sector, Shore Capital analyst Paul McGinnis reiterated his 'buy' rating on the stock.
McGinnis said the asset hit from weaker markets in the third-quarter had been less than he expected, indicating continued good underlying investment performance.
McGinnis said that with 82 percent of Henderson's assets reported to be in funds performing above their relevant performance benchmark over three years, compared with 83 percent at end-June, he said the update showed continued strong performance from Henderson's managers.
"We think bodes well for full year performance fees. Indeed this may be able to cushion any small downgrades on flows/market performance," he wrote in a note to clients, referring to the share in profits the firm may be able to secure at year-end.