Aberdeen Asset Management reported yesterday that its assets under management had fallen by more than £6billion.
The firm said this drop of 3.6% from £170.9billion at the end of March to £164.7billion at the end of June was primarily a result of the decline in equity markets and exchange-rate movements.
The company also won £11.2billion of new business during the quarter and £36.3billion for the nine months to June 30, while net new business for the nine months was £400million.
A further £2.1billion of mandates had been awarded to the group at June 30, it said, but were not yet funded at that date.
Aberdeen chief executive Martin Gilbert said: “Despite ongoing turbulence in global markets, Aberdeen has delivered robust performance in the latest quarter.
“We have seen healthy new business wins and slowing redemptions, resulting in net inflows for the period. Of particular note is the increase in net inflows to our pooled funds. This success is due to the diversified nature of our business, both in terms of asset class and our global client base, as well as our consistent and disciplined investment processes.
“Looking forward, we will remain focused on organic growth and building on the strong distribution relationships we have been developing over recent years.”
Mr Gilbert added that the third quarter of Aberdeen’s financial year had seen weaker global markets amid concerns over government debt, the consequences for economic growth following the implementation of austerity packages and fears of asset bubbles in China.
He said: “Against this background, we have continued to experience healthy new business flows into our equity capabilities while fixed-income outflows have slowed.
“We continue to operate at a healthy margin and we remain focused on controlling costs and converting profit into operating cash flow.
“As a result, we remain on track to eliminating our short-term bank debt by the financial year-end. We believe there remains a risk of further market volatility in the near-term, but we are confident the group’s financial strength and diversified product and client base will continue to deliver organic growth in future periods.”
Analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove rated Aberdeen as “overweight", and said the net inflows were a pleasant surprise. Mr Gilbert said: “We are still seeing huge potential inflows into emerging market equity and global equity.”