Lazard's (LAZ) April 2019 AUM Improves on Favorable Markets
Lazard Ltd. LAZ recorded around 2% rise in preliminary assets under management (AUM) as of Apr 30, 2019, from the prior month. Total AUM came in at $239.6 billion, up from the March 2019 figure of $235 billion.
April AUM displayed $5.5-billion market appreciation of $6.6 billion. These positives were partially offset by net outflows of $1.3 billion and unfavorable foreign-exchange impact of $0.6 billion.
Lazard’s equity AUM at the end of April increased 2.2% from the prior month to $199.3 billion. Also, other assets rose 6.1% to $5.2 billion. Further, fixed income AUM surged marginally on a sequential basis to $35.2 billion.
Our Viewpoint
Lazard is well positioned to grow organically, driven by strength in its Financial Advisory and Asset Management segments. However, absence of continued growth in equity markets and stringent regulations remain headwinds.
So, we believe, driven by these, the stock has gained 1.1% in the past three months compared with 5.4% growth recorded by the industry.
Lazard currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Competitive Landscape
Among other investment managers, Cohen & Steers CNS reported preliminary AUM of $63.1 billion as of Apr 30, 2019, around up 1% from the prior-month level. Market appreciation of $178 million and net inflows of $428 million, partly offset by distributions of $195 million, drove this upswing.
Invesco IVZ also announced its AUM for April. The company’s preliminary month-end AUM of $975.2 billion increased 2.1% from the prior month. This growth was primarily driven by favorable market returns, increase in money market AUM, non-management fee earning AUM inflows, net long-term inflows and reinvested distributions. However, unfavorable foreign-exchange movement brought down the month’s AUM by $0.4 billion.
Franklin Resources BEN reported preliminary AUM by its subsidiaries of $720.5 billion for April. Results display 1.2% growth from the $712.3 billion recorded as of Mar 31, 2019. Net market gains, partially offset by net outflows, led to this upside. However, the figure dipped 1.6% from the previous year.
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Cohen & Steers Inc (CNS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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