LONDON (HedgeWorld.com)–Man Group plc* reported strong sales and good performance for the first quarter of the year, with assets under management now exceeding US$25 billion up from US$23 billion at the end of 2002.
Of this total, US$11.2 billion is in RMF Investment Group, the Swiss firm fund of funds firm Man acquired last year Previous HedgeWorld Story. RMF sales since the acquisition were US$1.8 billion. Results for Man Group as a whole at the end of this month will be significantly ahead of market expectations, the company stated.
Sales are stronger than expected, confirmed Joanna Nader, a Lehman Brothers International analyst who does equity research on Man Group. She upgraded her forecast yesterday, increasing the target price for Man shares to 1,400 pence (US$22) from 1,350 pence. By contrast, the market price was fluctuating around 965 pence today.
"Despite strong relative performance, we continue to regard the Man Group shares as substantially undervalued," Ms. Nader wrote in yesterday's company update. She revised her forecasts upward for both management and performance fees, partly reflecting higher anticipated fund sales and slightly lower redemptions.
"As an asset class hedge funds should continue to have a bright future, with Man one of a small number of hedge fund providers with a high likelihood of sustaining a leading position as the industry matures," according to the update. Lehman Brothers will issue another revision on Man Group tomorrow, to take account of today's report from the company.
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