Man Group (LON: EMG), the London-listed hedge fund manager, saw its shares jump today after half-year results showed record assets under management and net inflows across all four product lines, a rare complete beat for a sector markets usually treat with caution.
Shares traded at 311.8p by mid-morning, up 3.93% from yesterday’s close of 300.0p, having touched an intraday high of 327.2p, above the 52-week high of 310.6p. The stock had already rallied from around 245.6p in late April.
Man Group’s half-year results, covering the six months to 30 June, showed assets under management reaching a record $253.6bn, up 11% from $227.6bn at the end of December, driven by $19.8bn of positive investment performance and $7.1bn of net inflows. Chief executive Robyn Grew said the firm recorded net inflows across all four of its product categories. Core performance fees, the extra fees earned when funds beat agreed targets, more than tripled year-on-year to $207m.
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Core net revenue rose to $853m, with net management fees up 21% year-on-year to $627m. Core profit before tax climbed to $297m, a 35% margin within management’s guided 30-40% range. The board declared an interim dividend of $0.057 per share, a third of the total paid for 2025, and returned $114m to shareholders in the first half via dividends and a $50m buyback launched in May.
Chief financial officer Antoine Forterre said the company had accrued roughly $290m of performance fees as of 24 July that were still to crystallise, or be finally confirmed and paid out, in the second half, “though the ultimate amount would fluctuate.” That points to a further catalyst still to come rather than a one-off boost already banked.
The rally builds on a run that had already taken the shares to near 52-week highs before results, so some of today’s good news was arguably priced in even before the numbers landed.