The asset manager blamed volatile markets as weighing upon investor sentiment in the intermediary channel, particularly in the UK and Asia, with outflows in its retail business of £3.3bn and assets at £106.4bn at the end of June.
However, this was offset by £4.4bn of inflows from institutional clients, with particular demand for its multi-asset and fixed income strategies.
Assets in this stream totalled £203.6bn at the end of June.
New business declines
The total of net new business in asset management was £1.1bn for the half, down from £8.4bn a year earlier.
Group assets under management still came in at £343.8bn, and improvement over the £309.9bn in June 2015.
Understandably, pre-tax profits for the asset management fell from £265m to £249m, though its wealth management business climbed to £28.4m.
Peter Harrison, group chief executive, said: “There was heightened market volatility throughout the period, particularly towards the end of June, following the result of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union.
“We expect the current market environment to persist and this may have an impact on investor demand.
“Our diversified business model continues to perform well and we are well placed to create value for our clients and our shareholders over the long term.”
