The Ukraine War has spooked investors
(Picture: REUTERS)LONDON based fund group Ashmore saw investors pull money out as poor stock picks led to a “negative investment performance” of nearly $17 billion this year.
Investors took out another $13.5 billion to place elsewhere.
Funds under management fell by 32% to $64 billion.
That adds to the woes for the wider fund management sector, which has mostly struggled to cope with turbulent markets this year that have seen tech stocks plummet and other seemingly sure bets fall out of bed.
Ashmore, an emerging markets specialist, saw its own profits more than half to £185 million.
That was notably worse than the City expected.
The shares down 51% this year, fell another 2p to 192p today.
Mark Coombs, the billionaire founder of the business and CEO, thinks emerging market shares and other assets are now so cheap that buyers will return.
He said: "While the global macro environment still presents some near-term uncertainty, the situation in Emerging Markets is improving and the breadth of investment opportunity helps to mitigate the risks. Ashmore’s long-term investment approach has been proven across many different market cycles.”
But this year has been characterised by “widespread risk aversion due to Ukraine war, inflation and higher rates globally”.
Ashmore did manage to hold its final dividend at 16.9p a share.
When interest rates rise, investors typically pull money out of stocks since they can earn a reasonable yield from lower risk products such as bonds.
Peel Hunt, the broker, said in a note: “There remains many reasons for longer term optimism, albeit there are still clear shorter-term uncertainties.”
