The chief executive of major fund management firm Aberdeen Asset Management has said he expected the investment environment to remain “difficult” in the months ahead.
Martin Gilbert was speaking as the north-east-based firm revealed that total assets under management at June 30 had decreased marginally to £209.6 billion, a 1% fall on the £212.3bn managed at the end of the previous quarter.
The major change in the quarter came in the equities portfolio, which saw a £6.3bn business outflow in the three-month period.
A total of £6.6bn of outflows in the equities sector were related to market movements in the quarter, while there was a further £600 million of outflows related to AAM’s two new acquisitions, Artio Global Investors and SVG Advisors.
New equity portfolio business inflows totalled £800m in the period.
The volatility also hit AAM’s fixed income, Aberdeen solutions, property and money market businesses, taking total business outflows in the period related to share price movements to £10.3bn £700m below the £11bn total corporate transaction receipts.
AAM’s interim update to the market also focused on the nine months to June 30, in which AAM said it had seen net new business inflows of £1bn.
The company said it was continuing to focus on the US and European markets which had the largest asset pools available.
“The brand refresh which we implemented in mid-May has been well received and we believe this to be an important component in our effort to broaden our distribution into these markets,” the firm said.
AAM also said that, despite the uncertainty, it was trading in line with management expectations and was confident of future improvements to both revenue and profits.
“We have delivered resilient figures during the third quarter given the volatile global market conditions,” Mr Gilbert said.
“Our disciplined investment approach meant a broad range of our products attracted interest from investors, although towards the end of the period outflows increased due to heightened market turbulence.
“The net outflow also reflects the deliberate steps we have taken to manage the capacity of our Global Emerging Market equity funds for the benefit of existing clients.
“During the quarter we were pleased to complete two transactions Artio Global Investors and SVG Advisors and I would like to welcome our new colleagues to the group. The investment capabilities that these two businesses bring, alongside our existing expertise across equities, fixed income, property and solutions means we are well placed to continue to meet the long-term needs of our clients in what is likely to remain a difficult environment.”