With the fortunes of asset managers highly correlated to the wax and wane of investor sentiment, it is no surprise that companies in the sector have endured some of the worst deterioration in both share price and profitability during the past six months. However, Schroders ' (SDR) strategy of increasing the proportion of business coming from institutional investors cushioned some of the blow from rocky markets and retail investors' referendum-related jitters during the first half.
Group assets under management grew to £344bn, up about £34bn on 2015's figure. However £28.5bn of this gain came via the weakness of sterling. The asset management business benefited from the more stable mandates issued by institutional investors, with its institutional channel gaining £4.4bn in net inflows to £204bn in assets under management. Chief financial officer Richard Keers reported continuing strong demand for multi-asset and fixed-income strategies from institutional investors such as pension schemes in the UK and Europe.