Ashmore quarterly AuM declines - UPDATE

14th Jan 2014 12:03

- AuM fell 4.1 per cent during the quarter- Continued market volatility- Confident in year ahead, sees easing volatility Ashmore, a UK fund manager that invests in emerging markets, said assets under management fell 4.1 per cent during the quarter ended December 31st amid continued market volatility.AuM fell to $75.3bn during the quarter from $78.5bn as a result of net outflows totalling $3.5bn and positive investment performance of $0.3bn.Analysts at Canaccord noted that continued uncertainty due to the possible tapering of the US Federal Reserve's quantitative easing programme has led to muted investor sentiment and flows, although Ashmore has been to largely protected from larger retail outflows seen elsewhere in the sector thanks to its weighting towards institutional mandates. Ashmore said the majority of the net outflow had resulted from a "small number" of redemptions - although most of its investment themes, apart from debt, saw outflows. "There were modest positive contributions to investment performance in equities, external debt, corporate debt, and blended debt, offset by mildly negative performance in local currency, alternatives and overlay/liquidity," it said.Chief Executive Officer Mark Coombs noted: "Market performance and, to some extent, investor behaviour during the quarter continued to be influenced by uncertainty surrounding US monetary policy and the heightened market volatility experienced since early May last year."There is now greater clarity over US monetary policy, and Emerging Market assets offer attractive prospective returns across both equities and fixed income, and especially against Developed Market assets. This continues to give us confidence for the year ahead."Canaccord maintained its 'hold' stance on the shares but said: "Ashmore continues to be impacted by volatile investor sentiment in emerging market debt markets given the uncertainty produced by recent Fed taper news." It added: "Negative sentiment nonetheless does not help investor allocation but is likely to produce valuation anomalies which will help fund performance in the future." With sentiment in emerging market debt expected to continue to remain weak until more visibility is given on the infamous taper and US interest rates.CJ/OH