Man Group (LON:EMG) said today that it expected to see an inflow of funds under management for the first time in two years, aided by the US$1.9 billion acquisition of smaller rival GLG.
In a in a pre-close trading statement ahead of the financial year-end on March 31, the world’s largest hedge fund manager said the net inflow was estimated to be US$700 million for the 12 months.
Redemptions of US$4.6 billion are expected to be cancelled out by sales of US$5.3 billion in the period.
Man said pre-tax profits for the period, including goodwill impairments, will drop to US$280 million from US$560 million a year earlier. Adjusted profits will be static at US$560 million.
The firm has delayed the launch of a new fund into Japan by a month after the earthquake and subsequent nuclear crisis, and said sales were likely to be hit.
It said the performance of its funds had "turned sharply down with markets" after the Japanese earthquake, but has since recovered.
Chief executive Peter Clarke said: “In the course of our 2011 financial year, we have fundamentally reshaped our business and delivered positive performance across a comprehensive range of liquid alternative investment styles.
“We have made excellent progress with the integration of GLG, sold our stake in BlueCrest to focus our resources on in-house capabilities, secured a major mandate win for our re-focused Multi-Manager business and returned to positive flows.
"The calendar year started with markets generally positioned for recovery and economic growth, although subject to frequent reversals.
“March brought an extraordinary concentration of macro shocks. Chief among these was the Japanese earthquake, which led to decreased risk appetite and increased volatility in markets.”