Lazard's (LAZ) October AUM Falls 3.6% on Unfavorable Markets
Lazard Ltd. LAZ announced its preliminary asset under management (AUM) balance of $220.1 billion for October 2023. This reflects a 3.6% decrease from $228.3 billion recorded as of Sep 30.
The fall in October AUM was driven by a market depreciation of $5.3 billion, foreign-exchange depreciation of $0.5 billion and net outflows of $2.4 billion.
Lazard’s equity AUM for October decreased 4.2% from the prior month to $167.3 billion. Fixed-income AUM of $44.7 billion decreased 1% sequentially. Also, other assets decreased 3.7% to $8 billion.
The company’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 declined 6% against the industry’s upside of 8.9%.
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LAZ 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
Cohen & Steers, Inc. CNS reported a preliminary AUM of $72.2 billion as of Oct 31, 2023, which reflects a decrease of 4% from the prior-month level. Market depreciation of $2.1 billion, net outflows of $732 million and distributions of $154 million led to the decline.
CNS recorded total institutional accounts of $29.8 billion at the end of October 2023, declining 4.6% from the September-end level. Of the total institutional accounts, advisory accounts were $17.3 billion, while the rest were sub-advisory.
Victory Capital Holdings VCTR reported an AUM of $148.89 billion for October 2023. This reflected a 3% decline from $153.51 billion reported as of Sep 30, 2023.
By asset classes, at the end of October, VCTR’s U.S. Mid Cap Equity AUM fell 4.5% from the September level to $26.97 billion. The U.S. Small Cap Equity AUM of $13.64 billion dipped 6.9%. Further, the U.S. Large Cap Equity AUM decreased 2.7% to $11.28 billion. The Global/Non-U.S. Equity AUM was down 2.2% to $14.48 billion.
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