Schroders posts 21.6 pct rise in H1 assets on markets, inflows

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - British asset manager Schroders on Thursday posted a 21.6 percent rise in first-half assets under management, boosted by market gains and inflows of new client money.

Schroders (Frankfurt: 929969 - news) , which manages mutual funds for retail and institutional clients, said total assets at the end of June were 418.2 billion pounds ($549.26 billion), from 343.8 billion pounds a year earlier.

That helped underpin a 21 percent rise in pretax profit from the same period a year earlier to 342.8 milllion pounds, and a 17 percent rise in the interim dividend to 34 pence a share, it said in a statement.

($1 = 0.7614 pounds) (Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Maiya Keidan)