The Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price has been amongst the worst performers on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) during the coronavirus crisis.
Since peaking at a 52-week high of $74.91 in the middle of February, the fund manager's shares have fallen 44% to $42.12. This compares to a 29% decline by the benchmark ASX 200 over the same period.
But its shares could be given a boost today following the release of its latest funds under management (FUM) update.
How did Magellan perform in March?
According to the release, despite the highly volatile market conditions during May, investors continued to put money into Magellan's funds.
During the month, the company experienced net inflows of $469 million. This was driven by net institutional inflows of $772 million, which offset net retail outflows of $303 million.
However, due to unfavourable market movements in March, the company's total FUM fell 6.6% to $93,991 million.
Whilst a decline is usually disappointing, I think this was an outstanding result given how hard global share markets fell during the month. The S&P/ASX 200 index, for example, fell by a whopping 21.2% in March.
The company's total FUM comprised $25,345 million in Retail FUM and $68,646 million in Institutional FUM. This compares to $27,345 million and $73,305 million, respectively, at the end of February.
The company's Global Equities FUM were the most resilient during the month. They fell just 2.9% month on month, whereas Australian Equities FUM fell 21.8% and Infrastructure Equities fell 15% in March.
What about its rivals?
Magellan is the first of the major fund managers to release its update for March. It certainly has set the bar high for the likes of Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL) and Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX: PTM), which are likely to be releasing their respective updates in the coming days.
