The final results for the half-year will be reported at the end of this month.

Zurich-based asset manager GAM expects to report an underlying pre-tax profit of about SFr91 million ($90.6 million) (including around SFr2 million of performance fees) for the first half of 2018. This is a rise of just over SFr15 million compared with the first half of 2017, which stood at SFr75.4 million (including SFr19.3 million of performance fees).

The group said it also predicts it will incur a non-cash impairment charge of approximately SFr59 million on the intangible assets (investment management and client contracts) related to the original funds of Cantab Capital Partners acquired in October 2016, as a result of lower assets under management and cash flows compared with those forecast at the time of the Cantab acquisition.

GAM also expects a related reduction in the Cantab deferred consideration liability, which represents the part of the purchase price that was deferred over multiple years, of approximately SFr30 million in the first half of 2018. Taken together with previously recognised adjustments, the reduction in the deferred consideration liability since the 2016 acquisition is expected to amount to approximately SFr57 million.

After taking these non-recurring and acquisition-related items into account, the group expects to report a fall in net profit for the first half of 2018 of approximately SFr25 million, compared with SFr67.7 million in the first half of 2017.

"We continue to see GAM Systematic Cantab as a key driver of future growth for our company,” said group chief executive Alexander Friedman. “While the developments in assets under management since the acquisition have been below expectation, they have been in line with industry trends as investors have turned more averse toward high volatility hedge funds. Cantab's industry-leading, scalable technology platform has been critical to enabling the launch of several new lower-volatility systematic products that are receiving increasing interest from clients and are integral to diversifying GAM's business into capabilities with strong future growth potential."

All the aforementioned figures for the first half of 2018 are estimates and the final results will be released on 31 July.

GAM provides active investment solutions and products for institutions, financial intermediaries and private investors. GAM employs over 900 people in 13 countries with investment centres in London, Cambridge, Zurich, Hong Kong, New York, Milan and Lugano.