A heavy fall in the share price of Henderson (HGG) on the release of these full-year results tells us more about investor fears about the current state of markets than about the asset manager's 2015 performance. Henderson enjoyed healthy net inflows of £8.5bn, a boost of around a fifth on the previous year, as retail investors on both sides of the Atlantic poured into funds targeting global and European equities. But its outlook somewhat understatedly acknowledged the "difficult market conditions" experienced since the start of the year.
In the reported period, further quantitative easing in Europe lured retail investors in the region away from cash and into equities and fixed income. Meanwhile, in the US, fears over further interest rate rises pushed investors out of domestic markets. New business bumped management fees up 16 per cent to £468m, while a positive investment performance boosted performance fees by a fifth.