UK - In the first half of this year Schroders managed to stem a £9.8bn (€14.5bn) outflow in institutional funds under management with a £5.7bn inflow.

Institutional assets are now up to £79.6bn from £77.4bn at the end of last year but Schroders saw money being pulled mainly from the UK and - to a lesser extent - Japanese equity.

This was offset by a £5bn gain in investment returns and assets added through the acquisition of Aareal Asset Management earlier this year.

Its institutional business generated strong gross sales up 36% compared to the first half of 2006 and institutional revenues were up 15% from last year.

It also gained new clients, largely from UK pension funds, with quantitative equity, multi-asset, fixed income and funds of hedge funds mandates.

Schroders' asset management division saw its profit before tax rise to £123.2m from £96.8m from the same period last year while group profit before tax increased 40% to £185.6m.

In its half-year report, Schroders also noted after the acquisition of Aareal Asset Management the group is "preparing to launch further European property funds".