Market Gains Mask Asset Managers’ Flow Strain
Asset appreciation lifted AUM across major managers, while persistent redemptions and slower fundraising exposed weaker underlying growth.
Market appreciation lifted assets across five managers even as client outflows persisted and fundraising slowed, widening the gap between headline AUM growth and the new money supporting future fees. Artisan Partners Asset Management (APAM), Franklin Resources (BEN) and Cohen & Steers (CNS) each recorded enough market gains to overcome net outflows, while Oppenheimer Holdings (OPY) reached record AUM largely through higher portfolio values and Blue Owl Capital (OWL) reported softer quarterly capital formation.
The strain was clearest at Artisan and Franklin. Artisan’s AUM increased by $13.1 billion during the quarter as $15.2 billion of market appreciation more than offset $1.9 billion of net client cash outflows and $0.2 billion of unreinvested fund distributions. For the first six months of 2026, its $16,620 million of investment returns and other exceeded $13,616 million of net client cash outflows, which rose from $4,703 million in the prior-year period. Franklin’s AUM increased by $71.2 billion in the quarter ended June 30, 2025, as $76.7 billion of market appreciation, most significantly in equities, outweighed $9.3 billion of long-term net outflows. Its long-term outflows subsequently increased 22% to $103.6 billion in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, primarily because of higher equity redemptions, partly offset by lower outflows from multiple Western Asset Management fixed-income vehicles.
The same market lift extended beyond those two managers. Cohen & Steers’ AUM increased 22.1% to $91.8 billion at September 30, 2024, as $21.2 billion of appreciation absorbed $2.0 billion of net outflows and $2.6 billion of distributions. Oppenheimer reached a record $47.5 billion of AUM at June 30, 2024, with $6.1 billion coming from higher values on existing client holdings and just $0.2 billion from net new client assets.
Blue Owl’s private-markets model offered a different version of the pressure. New capital raised or deployed for fee-paying AUM decreased to $5,451 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $5,733 million in the prior-year quarter, even as Credit contributed $2,684 million and Real Assets contributed $2,146 million. Its 2025 Real Assets AUM growth was driven by $17.0 billion of new capital raised and $14.2 billion added through the IPI acquisition, partly offset by $4.8 billion of distributions. Across both traditional and alternative managers, rising asset values are carrying more of the growth burden.