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Shares in British hedge fund manager Man Group slid on Friday after its cautious outlook took the shine off an in-line trading statement. The firm, founded in 1783 as a barrel maker, said it took in a net $2 billion of new money during the first quarter, mostly into its GLG alternatives unit, which partially compensated for the money pulled by investors from its FRM funds. When combined with a net $700 million performance loss across its investments, funds under management at the end of March rose to $55 billion, from $54.1 billion at the end of December. While sales of $6.5 billion in the quarter were the highest in three years to help chalk up a third straight quarter of net inflows, a feat last matched in the second quarter of 2008, the prospect that a weak investment performance could persist weighed on investor sentiment. At 0703 GMT, shares in Man Group were down 1.5 percent, the third-biggest faller on the mid-cap FTSE 250. "The market environment in the first quarte

Global hedge fund assets under management hit an all-time high of $2.938 trillion in April, beating the previous peak of $2.937 trillion reached before the financial crisis, data provider eVestment said. _0"> "Investors allocated heavily into hedge funds in April, the third consecutive month of elevated inflows," it said in a statement. A total of $17.9 billion of new money was invested to more than offset a slightly weaker asset-weighted performance and push assets under management to a level not seen since the second quarter of 2008, eVestment added. (Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Jemima Kelly)

From Asian Internet stocks, which have boomed over the last year, to food and paper products companies, prominent hedge fund investors listed their favorite stocks on Thursday at an industry meeting dominated by talk of where markets will move. John Burbank stuck with the Chinese Internet stocks that helped boost returns at his $3.8 billion Passport Capital last year. Real estate Internet portal Soufun Holdings, which climbed 121 percent in the last year, and discount online retailer Vipshop Holdings, which climbed 417 percent in the last year, made the list as his favorites. "I am not negative on U.S. Internet companies but China is trading at a bigger discount," Burbank said at the annual SkyBridge Alternatives Conference known as SALT. Burbank, whose picks have long included international companies and who taught in English in China decades ago, said "China is fundamentally changing and there is something to bet on." This year Burbank's flagship fund is

Hedge fund Magnetar Capital is suing U.S. drugs wholesaler McKesson, saying its acquisition of German peer Celesio short-changed minority shareholders and bondholders by around 370 million euros ($507 million). _0"> McKesson structured the transaction in an unlawful way, discriminating against the minority investors, Magnetar said in a statement on Wednesday. McKesson's bid for Celesio succeeded following drawn-out negotiations with another Celesio shareholder, activist hedge fund Elliott International, led by U.S. investor Paul Singer. Elliott, which had invested more than 1.3 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in Celesio shares and bonds that convert into shares, ended up selling all those securities to McKesson. Magnetar, which holds more than 3 percent in Celesio's shares, accuses McKesson of paying convertible bond holders such as Elliott an equivalent of up to 30.95 euros per underlying share, while owners of Celesio stock were only offered 23.50 euros a share. S

As a $14.8 billion hedge fund with a reputation for savvy mortgage trades and a record of double-digit returns, Pine River Capital Management has long signed up multi-billion-dollar pension and sovereign wealth funds as investors. Now the exclusive hedge fund is making some of its strategies available to Main Street investors who've been warned that bets on stocks and bonds may not see them through retirement. For as little as $1,000, they can include hedge funds in their nest eggs. As one of seven firms managing money in Wells Fargo's new Alternative Strategies fund, Pine River is among the latest big-name funds to crack its doors to private clients with look-alike products known as liquid alternative funds after years of courting only the super-wealthy. "Sub-advising portfolios in the (mutual fund) space is a new and diversified source of capital for a firm like ours," said Brian Taylor, who founded Pine River with $350,000 of his retirement money in 2002. &quo

Man Group said it was in talks to buy U.S. asset manager Numeric Holdings and diversify its quantitative fund offering, giving the UK hedge fund manager's share price a boost. A deal for Boston-based Numeric, part-owned by private equity group TA Associates and up for sale since early 2013, would broaden a quant fund stable currently focused on Man's flagship AHL computer-driven funds. It would also boost its presence in the United States, the biggest hedge fund market in the world, as well as its foothold in the institutional market, dealing with clients such as pension funds, which are driving growth in the broader industry. "This transaction would further diversify Man away from AHL and is consistent with Man's strategy to acquire a US-based asset manager," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Peter Lenardos. "However, given the extremely limited information available, especially on profitability and price - we reserve judgment until more details emerge.

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen ( id="symbol_PEUP.PA_0"> PEUP.PA ) launched the second stage of a long-awaited 3 billion euro ($4.2 billion) capital increase to fund its "Back in the Race" recovery plan and tie-up with China's Dongfeng ( id="symbol_0489.HK 0489.HK ). _1"> As its new board met on Tuesday, the troubled firm surprised markets by issuing more stock than expected at a larger discount to raise 1.95 billion euros from existing shareholders. Peugeot shares surged in afternoon trading, outpacing a broader European stock rally on hopes that recovering regional demand can help the recapitalized carmaker rebound. The rights issue, in addition to a 1.05 billion stock sale to the French state and Dongfeng Motor Group, allows investors to purchase seven new shares at 6.77 euros for every 12 held, a 41 percent discount to Monday's comparable closing price. That means future dividends will be divided among 877 million outstanding sh