Swiss asset manager GAM says second-quarter outflows slow on-quarter

ZURICH (Reuters) - Outflows at GAM Holding were "materially lower" in the second quarter than in the first, the asset manager said on Tuesday, adding that its campaign to cut costs by at least 65 million Swiss francs ($70.8 million) this year was on track.

Net outflows in investment management amounted to 8.5 billion francs in the first half, with negative market and foreign exchange movements of 3.9 billion francs. At its private labelling business, the company saw net inflows of 2.6 billion, while market and forex movements had a negative impact of 3 billion francs.

Group assets under management stood at 119.4 billion francs at the end of June, compared with 112.1 billion francs at the end of March and 132.7 billion francs at the end of 2019.

Net fee and commission income in the first half fell to 123.8 million francs from 171.1 million francs a year earlier. It swung to an underlying loss before taxes of 2 million francs from a profit of 2.1 million francs in the year-ago half.

The Swiss company generated an IFRS net loss of 390.1 million francs. GAM had said in June it expected an IFRS net loss of about 400 million francs as it writes down the value of decades-old goodwill.

GAM, in which German investor Joerg Bantleon's Bantleon Bank has built a 10.1% voting stake, last month named former BlackRock executive Jeremy Roberts the global head of distribution as part of a management revamp.

GAM Holding is no longer actively looking for a buyer or major strategic investor, Chief Executive Peter Sanderson said in a newspaper interview last month.

($1 = 0.9179 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Michael Shields, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)