Man Group assets rise to $67 billion

Date: Thursday, July 12, 2007
Author: Reuters.co.uk

LONDON (Reuters) - Man Group, the world's largest listed hedge fund firm, said on Thursday that its assets under management rose to $67 billion (33 billion pounds) at end-June, up from $61.7 billion at end-March, and that it was upbeat on prospects.

The firm (EMG.L: Quote, Profile , Research) said it logged sales of $3.8 billion over the three months, while redemptions totalled $2.3 billion.

"The board remains very confident of the group's prospects for the year," Chairman Harvey McGrath said in a statement ahead of the firm's annual meeting.

Over the three months, Man's closely watched AHL futures strategy, which lost around $500 million in value in the three months to March, was up 15 percent, while Man Global Strategies rose 8 percent.

Investors have continued to pour money into the $2 trillion hedge fund industry, despite sub-market returns this year.

In May Man Group reported that full-year profits rose 13 percent, despite a drop in performance fee income, and said it expected strong asset growth to continue.

In March it unveiled plans to spin off its U.S. brokerage arm, MF Global, in an offering that could raise around $3.8 billion and in what is likely to be the second-largest initial public offering on a U.S. exchange so far this year.