Ashmore reports $8 billion fall in assets under management

(Reuters) -Ashmore said on Friday its assets under management fell by $8 billion in the September quarter as investors responded to geopolitical risks, rising recession fears and interest rates.

Emerging markets-focused asset manager Ashmore said the fall was due to net outflows of $5 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30 and a negative investment performance of $3 billion.

Net outflows were predominantly a result of institutional investors reducing exposure in the external debt, local currency and blended debt themes, while local currency flows as well as corporate debt and equity themes all suffered outflows, it said.

"Global fixed income and equity markets fell over the quarter reflecting continued uncertainty around geopolitical risks, higher inflation and increasingly hawkish central banks," Ashmore Chief Executive Mark Coombs said.

Emerging market assets have been at the sharp end of recent market turmoil, suffering from the prospect of slowing growth, higher developed market interest rates and general jitters over financial stability prompting flights to safety.

Emerging market stocks have fallen nearly 30% since the start of the year and are on track for their worst annual performance since the 2008 financial crisis.

Hard-currency bonds from emerging market governments are down 23% year-to-date while local debt is 20% lower.

JPMorgan has calculated that investors have yanked $70 billion from emerging market bond funds since the start of 2022, predicting this will rise to around $80 billion by year-end.

(Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru and Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Alexander Smith)