Bank of Ireland insisted today its troubled fund management arm was not for sale despite a continuing outflow of funds from its international equity funds.
Group's chief executive Brian Goggin said Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) remains a very strong business despite the loss of a number of mandates as result of poor performance and the defection of some key staff.
BIAM reported a net outflow of funds of €13.5 billion in the 12 months to March 31st, 2005, the bank's annual results show today. In a media presentation in Dublin, Mr Goggin revealed that clients had withdrawn a further €700 million in April.
BIAM has also been notified off further outflows in the coming months. Without giving a precise figure Mr Goggin said the amount was shy of €1 billion.
Overseas clients have been disappointed with the underperformance of BIAM's EAFE fund, which invests in non-US equities. BIAM has headhunted a new investment team, and performance has taken a turn for the better in recent months, though Mr Goggin conceded the recovery could take two to three years.
New BIAM chief executive Kevin Dolan said performance had improved this year and that the EAFE fund was 0.3 per cent ahead of its benchmark for the year. He said BIAM had won new business but declined to reveal the number of new clients, adding that the value of funds were in the "hundreds of millions".
Despite the disappointing performance, Mr Goggin pointed out that BIAM is still a profitable business, posting pretax profits of €115 million - albeit down from €125 million in 2004.