Lazard's (LAZ) July 2019 AUM Declines on Overall Net Outflows
Lazard Ltd. LAZ recorded around 1.1% fall in preliminary assets under management (AUM) as of Jul 31, 2019, from the prior month. Total AUM came in at $234.8 billion, down from the June 2019 figure of $237.5 billion.
The July AUM displayed a $5.5-billion market appreciation of $1.5 billion. These positives were fully offset by net outflows of $2 billion and unfavorable foreign-exchange impact of $2.1 billion.
Lazard’s equity AUM at the end of July edged down 1.6% from the prior month to $192.8 billion. Also, other assets declined 2% to $4.9 billion. Yet, fixed income AUM surged marginally on a sequential basis to $37.2 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.
The stock has lost around 8.9% in the past three months compared with the 3.2% decline recorded by the industry.
Lazard currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Competitive Landscape
Among other investment managers, Legg Mason Inc. LM reported marginal growth in AUM as of Jul 31, 2019, from the previous month. Preliminary month-end AUM came in at $780.5 billion, up from the June 2019 figure of $780.2 billion.
Cohen & Steers CNS reported preliminary AUM of $63.1 billion as of Jul 31, 2019, up nearly 1.2% from the prior-month level of $62.4 billion. Market appreciation of $794 million and net inflows of $255 million were partly offset by a conversion of $119 million from certain institutional accounts to model-based portfolios (excluded from AUM) and distributions of $181 million.
Franklin Resources BEN has announced preliminary AUM by its subsidiaries of $709.5 billion for July 2019. Results displayed slight decrease from the $715.2 billion recorded as of Jun 30, 2019. Net outflows and net market change led to this downside. Further, the reported figure went down 3.3% year on year.
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