Negative market sentiment is hammering the financial services sector's five-year dream run, with listed investment firm Treasury Group admitting it suffered a $65 million slump in funds under management (FUM) for the December quarter.
In an interim results announcement yesterday, the group recorded total FUM at the end of December of $15.17 billion, a drop of 0.43 per cent for the period.
FUM over the half year from June 30 2007 rose by $712 million.
Managing director David Cooper said the change in FUM was caused partly by the S&P ASX 300 Accumulation Index measure of -2.7 per cent of market movement for the quarter.
The group owns stakes in Australian-based boutique fund management businesses including Investors Mutual and Orion Asset Management.
In September it was forced to shut down one of its boutiques, small caps manager Confluence Asset Management, due to lack of fund flows.
Meanwhile Count Financial revised its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) guidance yesterday, saying it expects half year EBIT to be up 24 per cent to $15 million.
Full year EBIT is now expected to be around $34 million, up 17.5 per cent for the year for the listed group, which had previously issued full year EBIT guidance of a 24 per cent rise to $36 million.
It admitted that general market and investor confidence weakness was affecting its share price.
MLC head of capital markets research Susan Gosling said on Monday that the global credit crisis has caused share prices for some sectors to drop significantly, notably financials.
"If the market expects a soft landing in the US and this does not occur, then expect further declines," she said.
