Man Group Assets Hit Record High on Acquisition, Inflows

Man Group Plc reported assets reached a new high after clients poured more money into its funds and following its acquisition of private credit firm Varagon Capital Partners.

(Bloomberg) — Man Group Plc reported assets reached a new high after clients poured more money into its funds and following its acquisition of private credit firm Varagon Capital Partners.

The world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund firm said assets grew to $161.2 billion, up from $151.7 billion in the three months through September, according to a statement Thursday. Clients added $700 million into its funds, almost matching analyst forecasts.

Man Group runs a diversified investment management business with hedge funds, long-only and quant strategies. It is among a few hedge fund firms to see inflows amid wider redemptions from the industry. The main bulk of inflows were in the firm’s alternatives strategies, while its long-only funds remained flat.

Analysts forecast the firm would collect a net $800 million during the period and manage $163.5 billion at the end of September, according company-compiled estimates.

The results are the first under Robyn Grew, who took over as chief executive officer at the beginning of September from Luke Ellis. She is the firm’s first female CEO in its history.

The recent purchase of Varagon signals Man Group’s push into the booming $1.5 trillion private credit market. Man Group agreed to pay $183 million in cash for US-based Varagon, which had $11.8 billion of assets and $15.4 billion of total client commitments at the end of 2022.

Higher rates, the banking industry’s retreat from lending and the opportunity for lucrative fees are attracting a raft of money managers to the private credit market, helping transform it into a mainstream offering. Other asset managers including DWS Group, Fidelity International and PGIM are building out private credit businesses.

–With assistance from Liza Tetley.

(Adds detail on private credit in final paragraph. An earlier version of the story corrected the net inflows in the first deckhead.)

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