10th Sep 2013 07:38
LONDON (Alliance News) - Emerging markets investment manager Ashmore Group PLC Tuesday said its full-year assets under management swelled, with strong inflows from clients new and existing the source.
Ashmore said its assets under management increased 22% to GBP77.4 billion for the year ended June 30, compared with USD63.7 billion for the corresponding period the year prior. It put the increase down to net inflows of USD13.4 billion, along with an investment return of USD0.3 billion.
"The balance of world economic power is shifting in favour of emerging markets," Mark Coombs, chief executive, said in a statement. "The factors behind this positive long-term view should not be confused with the noise that arises from the inevitable, but shorter-lived, volatility associated with the business cycle. In recent months, the cyclical slowdown in certain emerging markets has been extrapolated by the market into something abysmal; and at the same time, expectations of a sustained and inflation-less US economic recovery have increased, influenced by the Federal Reserve's signal in May of imminent QE tapering.
Our expectation is that both of these projections will be wrong," Coombs added.
Ashmore said it attracted the inflows from new and existing clients, citing the company's investments in its distribution platform and the fact that many clients are institutions, such as government-related entities and private and public pension plans, and therefore more resilient to volatile market conditions. Ashmore described the year as a busy one for new account openings.
The major factor behind Ashmore's overall investment return was a return on equities of GBP0.6 billion. However, this was countered by GBP0.4 billion in currency losses, leading to the total return of GBP0.3 billion.
Ashmore said its balance sheet was strong, as it reported a 5.9% increase in pretax profit, up to GBP257.6 million, largely attributable to an increase in management and performance fees.
Ashmore declared a full-year dividend of 16.10 pence per share, up from last year's 15 pence.
Ashmore shares were Tuesday quoted at 380.50 pence, up 17.60 pence, or 4.9%.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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