Henderson assets lifted by improving investor sentiment

LONDON, Oct (KOSDAQ: 039200.KQ - news) 31 (Reuters) - Anglo-Australian fund manager Henderson Group (LSE: HGG.L - news) attracted 1.2 billion pounds ($1.93 billion) of net new money in the three months to the end of September, helped by improving investor confidence.

In a trading statement on Thursday, Henderson said the inflows, as well as positive investment performance, helped lift assets under management by 4.3 percent to 70.8 billion pounds.

The net inflows were double the amount forecast by analysts at Numis, although the performance of Henderson's funds during the quarter was weaker than expected.

Shares in Henderson were up 0.84 percent at 216 pence by 0820 GMT, against a FTSE 250 down 0.6 percent.

Henderson is one of several asset managers such as Ashmore Group and Jupiter (Frankfurt: 4JF.F - news) to have reported strong inflows in the last few months, as rallying stock markets and healthier economies attract clients into investment funds.

Andrew Formica, Henderson's chief executive, said each one of the geographical areas where it does business saw "substantial increases in net flows" during the quarter, and positive flows outweighed client withdrawals in equities for the first quarter since the start of 2011.

Retail clients added net inflows of 1.3 billion pounds during the quarter, Henderson said, while the institutional business saw a small net outflow (SES: E2:OJ4.SI - news) .