Lazard's (LAZ) August AUM Falls 2.9% on Challenging Markets
Lazard Ltd. LAZ announced its preliminary asset under management (AUM) balance of $237.3 billion for August 2023. This reflects a 2.9% decrease from $244.4 billion recorded as of Jul 31.
The fall in August AUM was driven by a market depreciation of $4.4 billion, foreign-exchange depreciation of $2.3 billion and net outflows of $0.4 billion.
Lazard’s equity AUM for August decreased 3.3% from the prior month to $182.8 billion. Fixed-income AUM of $46.1 billion decreased 1.5% sequentially. Also, other assets decreased marginally to $8.4 billion.
Lazard’s investment in the Asset Management segment, impressive cost-control efforts and introduction of investment strategies to enhance its competitive edge are strategic fits. However, increased dependence on advisory revenues makes it vulnerable to economic doldrums.
Over the past six months, shares of Lazard have gained 1.6% compared with the industry’s upside of 16.6%.
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LAZ 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
Cohen & Steers, Inc. CNS reported preliminary AUM of $80 billion as of Aug 31, 2023, which reflected a decline of 2.8% from the prior-month level. Market depreciation of $2.2 billion and distributions of $157 million were partly offset by net inflows of $12 million.
CNS recorded total institutional accounts of $33.5 billion at the end of August 2023, declining 2.7% from the July-end level. Of the total institutional accounts, advisory accounts were $19 billion, while the rest were sub-advisory.
Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. VRTS recorded a sequential decrease in its preliminary AUM balance for August 2023 on the back of unfavorable market returns. The company reported month-end AUM of $169.4 billion, which reflected a fall of 1.5% from the Jul 31 level.
Excluded from the above-mentioned AUM balance, other fee-earning assets were $2.6 billion, to which Virtus Investment provided services.
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