Virtus Investment Partners Inc. saw first-quarter net profits climb 57 percent as investors continue to seek haven in the Hartford asset manager’s wide lineup of mutual funds and other wealth products.
For three months ended March 31, Virtus said Tuesday its net income tied to common stockholders was $21.9 million, or $2.34 a fully diluted share, up from $14 million, or $1.73 a share, netted the same quarter in 2013.
First-quarter revenues were an unadjusted $107.9 million vs. $86.2 million a year ago.
Total sales of mutual funds and other investment products were $4.25 billion in the latest quarter vs. $6.24 billion a year earlier, the firm said.
In the investment world, an asset manager’s ability to attract and retain investable funds, called net inflow, is coveted; the opposite — net outflow — is not.
In the first quarter, Virtus had a net outflow of $459.7 million vs. a $3.73 billion net inflow the same quarter last year. The firm blamed the outflow partly on emerging market flows and the redemption of a single low-fee separately managed account.
Virtus ended the first quarter with $58 billion in assets under management vs. $51.2 billion a year ago.
