The group’s absolute return proposition seemed particularly hit, with £220m taken out of these mandates across the institutional and retail spectrum.
In this instance positive market movements during the quarter could not make up the shortfall, as they led to only a £6m increase, taking the total invested in absolute return mandates to £4.3bn down from £4.5bn at the start of the year.
UK retail investors showed less confidence than their European counterparts withdrawing £367m from Henderson’s Oeics, while £246m was poured into its Sicavs.
This trend was also visible in the firm’s institutional fund flows where Sicavs saw far fewer redemptions (£11m) than Oeics (£251m).
In total retail funds saw £101m taken out, while institutional funds witnessed redemptions of £630m.
Positive market movements did more than enough to make up for investors’ caution, however, increasing retail AUM by £2.2bn and institutional AUM by £559m.
Equity products led the bulk of the AUM gains, up £2.8bn from market movements despite outflows of £558m, while fixed income saw a modest increase in AUM of £98m when outflows and market movements are taken into account. Property and private equity remained relatively flat.
Andrew Formica, Henderson Group’s CEO, said: "Although equity markets are higher than at the beginning of the year, continued market volatility and economic uncertainty during the period have kept investor demand for risk assets subdued.
"However, I am encouraged that through this period our investment performance has been strong. Whilst we expect markets to remain volatile, I am confident that our product diversity, investment performance and relentless client focus, position us well for the future."
