Ashmore Group PLC sees more outflows despite continued emerging

PLC () saw more net outflows in its second-quarter but this continued to be offset by positive investment performance.

Current equity and fixed income valuations in emerging markets “suggest there is much further to go in terms of recovery investment returns”, said chief executive Mark Coombs.

“While COVID will continue to affect individual countries differently, the deployment of vaccines supports the view that 2021 will see improved growth and importantly the growth in emerging countries is forecast to be higher than in the developed world. This therefore provides an opportunity for investors to increase exposure to higher return Emerging Markets asset classes and to benefit from economic and market recoveries as they continue to develop in 2021,” he added.

Assets under management increased by US$7.5bn to US$93bn in the three months to end-December 2020 for the FTSE 250-listed asset manager, with US$8.1bn of positive market performance but net outflows of US$0.6bn.

This followed net outflows of US$0.8bn in the preceding quarter that was offset by US$2.7bn rise in the value of its assets.

Positive performance by emerging markets in the quarter helped Ashmore’s fund managers deliver outperformance across its fixed income and equities strategies, with high absolute performance delivered in the local currency, blended debt, equities, external debt and corporate debt themes.

Continuing a trend seen since last April, Ashmore’s one- and three-year performance track records showed further improvement over the quarter, and the five-year performance remains very strong.

“The strong outperformance delivered over the past three quarters provides a firm basis for Ashmore’s investment processes to deliver further absolute and relative performance for clients,” the firm said.