Mutual funds help drive Schroders Q1 total assets rise 1.4%

LONDON (Reuters) - British money manager Schroders on Thursday said assets under management rose 1.4% in the first quarter, boosted by its a rise in assets in its mutual fund unit, as markets continued to grind higher on hopes of economic recovery.

Many developed markets have continued to bounce back in recent weeks as successful vaccination drives in countries such as the United States combine with government stimulus to keep markets buoyant.

At the end of March, total group assets were 672 billion pounds ($938 billion), up from 663 billion pounds in the prior quarter. Assets contained in its mutual funds, mostly sold to retail clients, rose 5.4% to 109.8 billion pounds from 104.2 billion pounds.

Schroders does not disclose what portion of the increase came from market gains and what from new inflows of client cash. Over the period, the FTSE 100 index of leading British stocks rose 3.9%.

($1 = 0.7165 pounds)

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru and Simon Jessop in London, editing by Karin Strohecker)