Henderson sees retail client outflows
Although Henderson saw continued retail client outflows in the first quarter of the year across many regions, the Australian retail business made a modestly positive contribution to net flows.
Retail net outflows stood at £1.4 billion (A$2.39 billion) for the quarter, with 85 per cent of the outflow occurring in the first two months, Henderson said.
UK retail saw a net outflow of £0.2 billion (A$341.1 million), with a growing interest in emerging markets offset by modest outflows from the property fund.
Net inflows to its US Global Equity Income fund were counterbalanced by outflows from international opportunities and European focus, with clients reducing their exposure to non-US assets.
At the same time, SICAVs in continental Europe and Latin America saw an outflow of £1 billion (A$1.71 billion) as clients continued to reduce their exposure to European assets.
The institutional clients segment saw net outflows of £0.4 billion (A$682.2 million).
The company noted its institutional business continued to diversify in terms of asset class and geography.
Henedrson’s chief executive, Andrew Formica, said: “Aside from the one-off outflows that resulted from the merger-related restructuring of our global equities team, our institutional business continues to see steady growth, with a healthy number of mandates funding since quarter end”.
“While retail client outflows continued, we saw an improvement in client sentiment and flows as we moved towards the end of the quarter.”
Total assets under management (AUM) in the period increased to £103.1 billion at the end of March, compared to £101 billion (A$172.2 billion) at the end of December 2016, and were driven by positive investment performance and FX gains.
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