Jupiter Fund Management has reported a decline in assets under management (AUM) during the first quarter, as net outflows from its retail and wholesale channel hit £1.9bn amid "worsening geopolitical events and inflationary concerns".

AUM finished the first three months of 2022 at £55.3bn, down from £60.5bn at the end of 2021.

Jupiter attributed the £5.2bn decrease to negative market returns of £3.6bn and total net outflows of £1.6bn.

During the first quarter, UK inflation soared and Russia invaded Ukraine, both of which "weighed upon client demand", particularly in the retail and wholesale channel, resulting in total net outflows of £1.9bn.

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In a trading update, the fund manager said that amid the risk-off environment across fixed income and equities, there was continued lower demand for UK and European-focused equity products and "inflationary concerns led to redemptions from our unconstrained fixed income strategies".

"These outflows were partially offset by net inflows of over £0.2bn from institutional clients. This was driven by the funding of a mandate from Brunel into Global Sustainable Equities and two client wins in UK Value equities," Jupiter stated.

However, across both client channels, Jupiter reported that its sustainability-labelled product range generated more than £200m in net inflows due to client demand.

Negative market returns of £400m also weighed on Jupiter's investment trust channel, resulting in lower AUM at the end of the first quarter, down to £900m from £1.2bn at 31 December 2021.