Janus Capital's assets under management dropped $6.4 billion, or approximately 4.7%, to $129 billion in July, mostly due to market depreciation, the firm said.
Eighty-seven percent of the drop-off was due to market depreciation, Janus said, while long-term net outflows reached $1.1 billion and total net outflows tallied $0.8 billion. Year-to-date, through the end of June, Janus saw $3.5 billion walk out the door, according to Financial Research Corp.
July proved to be a very tough month for the Denver-based fund firm, as assets fell to a month-end low not seen since 1999 and the company received word that one of its biggest investors, likely a state pension plan, intends to pull $5 billion in assets from the firm by the end of the year.
Compounding matters, the firm announced during its second-quarter conference call that earnings would be down 5 cents to 6 cents a share in the second half due to lower asset levels and fee reductions agreed to in settlements with regulators.
"Despite the weak equity market environment, long-term net flows, excluding INTECH, were essentially unchanged from June," said Steve Scheid, chairman and president of Janus. INTECH is the firm's mathematical-model-based investment house. "Moreover, total net outflows were the lowest they've been since August of last year."
In addition, the firm said it is continuing to post strong fund performance relative to its peers. More than 65% of the firm's retail funds ranked in the top half of their Lipper categories in the trailing one-year period, and 55% were in the upper half on a three-year basis in terms of total returns.
