Ashmore Group holds its Annual General Meeting on Thursday 5 November, three weeks after reporting that Assets under management rose to US$54.5bn at the end of September. The emerging markets manager's 12.1p final Dividend is due for payment on 7 December.

What happened

The most recent trading news came on 14 October, in a statement covering the quarter to 30 September. Assets rose from US$54.0bn at the end of June, helped by net inflows of US$1.1bn and partly offset by a negative Investment effect of US$0.6bn as developed-market bond yields rose.

Gross redemptions fell to a 15-year low, while gross subscriptions continued to grow. All investment themes recorded net inflows except corporate debt, which was flat. These details come from a summary of the statement published on, and we could not review the full text.

Ashmore, ticker LSE:ASHM, is a constituent of the FTSE All-Share index and operates in the asset management sector, specialising in emerging markets. The AGM will take place at noon in London, according to the notice issued on 25 September.

Why it matters for investors

Flows are the main driver of a fund manager's future fee income, so a quarter of positive net flows matters. Full-year figures published on 7 September showed net inflows of US$2.7bn over the 12 months to June, meaning the latest quarter alone added an amount equal to about 41% of that, on our calculation. (LSE:ASHM)

Profitability has been slower to follow. Net Revenue dipped to £140.5m from £144.1m in the year to 30 June, and adjusted net revenue fell 7% to £135.6m. Adjusted EBITDA dropped 32% to £35.7m, with the Margin falling to 26% from 36%.

Reported pre-tax profit nevertheless increased 17% to £126.9m, supported by £82.5m of seed capital gains. Diluted Earnings per Share rose 28% to 15.0p. Those gains can vary from year to year, so in our analysis the adjusted measures are the better guide to the recurring business.

Chief executive Mark Coombs said the results reflected "meaningful growth in AuM and profits during the year". The total dividend for the year was held at 16.9p, which is above reported diluted earnings per share of 15.0p and therefore something income investors may wish to monitor.

How the shares have performed

The latest dated quote we could retrieve was 213.40p on 25 September, from StockAnalysis, up 0.76% in early trading. We could not obtain a closing price for today, or a dated reading following the October statement.

At that price the company was valued at about £1.38bn, within a 52-week range of 151p to 276.5p. The site showed a yield of 7.92% based on a dividend of about 17p a share.

Ten analysts tracked by StockAnalysis had a consensus Hold rating and an average target of 207.30p as at that date, slightly below the quoted price. Those views predate the first-quarter flows update.

What to watch next

Thursday brings two dates together. StockAnalysis lists 5 November as the ex-dividend date for the final dividend, ahead of the Record Date of 6 November given in the results, which means shares bought from that date would not carry the 12.1p payment.

The AGM itself may offer comment on current flows, although companies do not always use such meetings to issue trading news. Beyond that, investors will likely look at whether redemptions stay low and whether developed-market yields continue to weigh on investment performance.

We did not find a confirmed date for the next quarterly statement or half-year results in the materials we reviewed.