Man Group

History

The company was founded by James Man in 1783 as a sugar cooperage and brokerage, based in Harp Lane in Billingsgate. The following year Man Group won the contract to supply the Royal Navy with the rum for its daily "rum tot", a tradition under which all sailors were allocated a daily rum ration. This tradition continued until 1970, with Man Group holding the contract throughout. The company further expanded from sugar and rum into other commodities such as coffee and cocoa. The company traded as a commodities business throughout the 19th and 20th century, gradually diversifying into financial services following the advent of financial exchanges to hedge commodity exposures.

The firm was renamed ED & F Man in 1869, based on the initials of James Man's grandsons Edward Desborough Man and Fredrick Man. ED & F Man listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994. In 2000 the company divided into two entirely separate businesses, with Man Group plc focusing exclusively on financial services and ED & F Man (the commodities division) taken private in a management buy-out.

In 2007 Man Group moved into its present form as an investment management business, following the demerger and flotation of its brokerage business (known as MF Global) on the New York Stock Exchange.

Man Group attained its current structure over time through acquisition. Man AHL is the oldest investment manager of the group, having been acquired over time from 1989 to 1994. Man Group’s other investment managers were acquired between 2010 and 2012. In 2010 Man Group acquired Man GLG, previously GLG Partners for $1.6 billion, then Man FRM in 2012 and Man Numeric in 2014.

Structure and operations

Man Group offers hedge fund and long-only products spanning equity, credit, managed futures, convertibles, emerging markets and multi-manager solutions.

The firm has key operational centres in Australia, China, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, UK, USA and Uruguay. The firm operates through four investment managers: Man AHL; Man FRM; Man GLG and Man Numeric.

Man AHL

Founded in 1987, Man AHL is a diversified quantitative investment manager offering absolute return and long-only funds, with both momentum and non-momentum strategies. In recent years, the manager’s sales have shifted from retail to institutional investors. Man AHL has over 100 investment professionals.

Man FRM

Established in 1991, and acquired by Man Group in 2012, Man FRM's 58 research and investment professionals operate from London, New York, Tokyo, Guernsey and Pfäffikon.

Man GLG

Man GLG was established in London in 1995 as GLG Partners. It was publicly listed in 2007 before being acquired by Man Group in 2010 for $1.6 billion. Man GLG is a multi-team discretionary investment manager. Man GLG utilises absolute return and long-only strategies across asset classes, sectors and geographies. The January 2015 acquisition of Silvermine was expected to boost the division’s US CLO business.

Man Numeric

Man Numeric was established in 1989 and acquired by Man Group in 2014. A Boston-based quantitative asset manager with $16.7 billion FUM as at December 2014, Man Numeric offers long-only, active extension and hedged equity strategies. Man Group acquired Man Numeric to build a diversified quantitative fund management business in non-momentum strategies, and to develop Man Group’s presence in the North American market. In 2014, Man Numeric’s average client portfolio out-performed industry benchmarks by 3% before fees.

Strategy

Luke Ellis was appointed as Man Group’s CEO in September 2016. He succeeded Manny Roman, whom Ellis had worked with for seven years at Man Group and had known for two decades. Ellis' strategic objective for Man Group is to continue diversifying the firm through acquisition, as well as invest in its infrastructure.

Man Group has seen significant cost-cutting, led by Co-President Jonathan Sorrell, with a $270 million cost-saving programme planned for delivery in 2015 achieved ahead of schedule. Sorrell's role as President was expanded by Ellis to include corporate strategy, private markets and acquisitions.

RMF and Bernard Madoff

RMF, a former division of Man Group, invested 0.5% of its funds under management at the time with various 3rd party funds which, in turn, had positions in funds ultimately managed by Bernard Madoff. RMF was one of 107 financial institutions and 13,000 individuals to invest in such funds. As of 2014, 59% of all such funds have been recovered and returned to various institutions and individuals.

Man Booker Prizes

Man Group has sponsored The Man Booker literary prize since 2002.

Described by The Telegraph newspaper as “...arguably the UK’s most prestigious" literary prize, the £50,000 award was created in 1973 to increase the reading of quality fiction and attract “the intelligent general audience”. Each year the winner is announced at an awards dinner broadcast live by BBC Television. Inclusion into the award's shortlist and attendant press coverage is known to provide a significant boost to book sales and bookstore visits, with sales trebling in some cases.

The 2016 prize was awarded to the New York novelist Paul Beatty, for The Sellout. Previous winners include Philip Roth and Lydia Davis. The 2014 award went to author Richard Flanagan for The Narrow Road to the Deep North, with his prize presented by Chair of judges AC Grayling at London’s Guildhall. It was the first year in which eligibility for the award was expanded to include any novel written in English and published in the UK.

Man also sponsors the Man Booker International Prize. This £50,000 prize is awarded each year on the basis of a single book translated into English, and aims to encourage the publishing and reading of quality fiction in translation. The prize is divided equally between author and publisher.

Corporate responsibility

Man Group is a member of the FTSE4Good Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. It also supports various charitable initiatives, principally through the Man Charitable Trust.

Man Charitable Trust

Set up in 1978, The Man Charitable Trust is an independent registered charity that funds small to medium-size charities focusing on literacy and numeracy programmes. It also funds programmes in support of access to education for disadvantaged people. In 2014 the trust awarded £427,075 to UK charities, including £50,000 to Beanstalk, a charity that recruits and trains volunteers to provide reading support in primary schools, and £50,000 to National Numeracy, a charity dedicated to raising low levels of numeracy among adults and children.

Oxford-Man Institute

In June 2007 Man launched a joint project with the University of Oxford, the Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance. Man Group’s initial financial commitment to the Institute was £13.75 million, one of the largest single donations to a British higher education institution in recent years.

In 2016 the Oxford-Man Institute expanded its focus on machine learning and data analytics, becoming part of the University of Oxford's Department of Engineering Science. The development of the OMI's focus creates a hub for machine learning and data analysis at Eagle House, the current home of the OMI and Man AHL's Oxford Research lab.

Former sponsorships and charitable initiatives

Man Group is a former sponsor of the Man Group International Climate Change Award and the Man Asian Literary Prize. In the 1990s, Man was a founding member of the East London Partnership, which became the East London Business Alliance, a business-community outreach charity promoting corporate social responsibility and employee volunteering.