Lazard's (LAZ) April AUM Declines 3.8% on Weaker Markets
Lazard, Inc. LAZ reported its preliminary asset under management (AUM) balance of $240.8 billion for April 2024. This reflected a 3.8% decline from $250.4 billion as of Mar 31, 2024.
The downfall in AUM balance was due to a market depreciation of $4.4 billion, net outflows of $3.6 billion and foreign exchange depreciation of $1.6 billion.
In April, Lazard’s equity assets and fixed income declined 3.9% each from the prior month’s level to $187.6 billion and $45.4 billion, respectively. Other income dipped 1.7% to $45.4 billion from the previous month.
The company’s high reliance on financial advisory fees for most of its revenues and continued net outflows are likely to affect Lazard’s top-line growth in the upcoming period. Nonetheless, cost-management efforts are expected to aid the company’s bottom line in the future.
Over the past six months, shares of Lazard have jumped 40.1% compared with the industry’s growth of 16.6%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
LAZ currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Asset Managers
Franklin Resources, Inc. BEN reported its preliminary AUM of $1.60 trillion as of Apr 30, 2024. This reflected a decrease of 2.5% from the prior month’s level.
The decline in BEN’s AUM balance was primarily due to the impact of negative markets and long-term net outflows, including $5.9 billion related to the $25 billion AUM received from the Great-West Lifeco acquisition.
Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. VRTS recorded a sequential decline of nearly 5.2% in its preliminary AUM balance for April 2024. The company reported a month-end AUM of $170.06 billion, which declined from $179.31 billion as of Mar 31, 2024.
VRTS offered services to $2.6 billion of other fee-earning assets. This was excluded from the above-mentioned AUM balance.
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