Man Group, the world’s largest publicly listed hedge fund, has hit a record in assets under management despite a sharp fall in annual profits on lower performance fees.
The firm’s pretax profit more than halved to $340m (£268m) in 2023 from $779m (£615m) the year before.
Man Group was dragged down by its performance fees, which plunged 77 per cent year-on-year to $180m )£142m). Net revenue dropped to $1.2bn (£950m), down 29 per cent from $1.7bn (£1.3bn) in 2022.
Meanwhile, assets under management came in at a record $167.5bn (£132bn), up 17 per cent from $143.3bn (£113bn) in 2022. Man Group reported net inflows of $3bn (£2.4bn), which it said was 4.9 per cent more than the industry average.
Man Group announced a final dividend of 10.7 cents (8.5p) per share taking the total for the year to 16.3 cents (12.9p) and said it was planning a new share buyback of up to $50m (£40m), on top of a $125m (£99m) buyback announced last year.
The firm’s core diluted earnings per share came in at 22.4 cents (17.7p), down more than half from 48.7 cents (39p) in 2022.
“2023 was a year that defied market expectations as the world grappled with macroeconomic uncertainty and unforeseen geopolitical events,” said chief executive Robyn Grew, who took over from Luke Ellis last September.
“These results reflect the quality of the business we have built, including the breadth and depth of our client relationships, and the merits of our diversified product offering.”
One of Grew’s first big changes will reportedly be retiring Man Group’s well-known GLG brand, with the division’s chief executive Teun Johnston understood to have left the company, and establishing a new discretionary investing arm.
Man Group is in the process of expanding into credit, capitalising on the success of the non-bank lenders compared to hedge funds.