Media. News and press releases from across Man Group.

Solid progress: Strong performance fees; improving flow momentum; margin compression

28 February 2020

Key points

• Funds under Management (FUM)¹ of $117.7 billion (31 December 2018: $108.5 billion)
  • Positive investment movement of $10.1 billion (2018: negative $7.7 billion)
  • Net outflows of $1.3 billion (2018: net inflows $10.8 billion)
  • FX translation and other movements of positive $0.4 billion (2018: negative $3.7 billion)
• Adjusted profit before tax (PBT)¹ increased by 54% to $386 million (2018: $251 million)
  • Adjusted management fee PBT¹ decreased by 21% to $172 million (2018: $217 million)
  • Adjusted performance fee PBT¹ increased by 529% to $214 million (2018: $34 million)
• Statutory PBT increased by 10% to $307 million (2018: $278 million)
• Asset weighted performance versus peers¹ across our strategies of -1.1% (2018: 1.0%)
• Group run rate net management fee margin¹ of 65 basis points at 31 December 2019
• Recommended final dividend of 5.1 cents per share bringing the total dividend for the year to 9.8 cents per share (2018: 11.8 cents) – in-line with our dividend policy
• Completed the $100 million share repurchase announced in October 2018, and in October 2019 announced our intention to repurchase a further $100 million of shares ($29 million of shares had been repurchased at 31 December 2019)
• Strong and liquid balance sheet – net financial assets¹ of $674 million (2018: $644 million)

Luke Ellis, Chief Executive Officer of Man, said:

“2019 was a year of solid growth and continued strategic progress at Man Group. We delivered strong absolute investment performance, making $10.1billion in investment gains for our clients, and closed the period with record funds under management. We also increased our adjusted profit before tax¹ by 54%.

“Over the course of the year, we saw continued inflows into our alternative strategies, although overall we recorded a small outflow as our clients reduced their equity allocations. In the fourth quarter, we returned to net inflows and that momentum has continued into this year.

“We continue to enhance the aspects of our business that differentiate us by investing in talent and innovative new technologies, enriching our culture, diversifying our investment capabilities, and developing deep client relationships. In doing so, we remain well positioned to help our clients meet their investment goals and thus deliver sustainable value for our shareholders.”

1. For definitions and explanations of our alternative performance measures, please refer to pages 51-55.