Net inflows into alternative products at hedge fund manager Man Group surged to $4.1bn (€2.9bn) in the quarter ending 30 June, while long-only strategies saw modest outflows of $0.4bn.
The firm’s overall inflows of $3.7bn were about five times the $700m of inflows it achieved in the first quarter of the year, and came on the back of $9bn in sales.
Investor enthusiasm for alternative products, which employ hedge fund-like strategies such as short selling, came despite poor performance of several of these vehicles. Alternative funds run by GLG, the US hedge fund sponsor which Man bought in May 2010, saw generally negative performance.
Overall, Man’s funds under management fell $1.1bn due to widespread losses, leaving the firm with $71bn as of 30 June.
Because of the shaky fund performance, Man chief executive Peter Clarke was cautious about the coming quarter.
“Current markets are creating challenging performance conditions for most asset classes, and our assumption is that investor sentiment will remain patchy over the summer months,” he said.
©2011 funds europe