Funds sell-off hurts Schroders

BLUE-BLOODED fund firm Schroders suffered a sell-off after investors pulled cash from its asset management arm.

The 214-year- old business saw savers pull £500m out in the first six months of the year, leaving it with £389.3bn.

It overshadowed a rise in profits to £371.1m, up 8.3pc on the same period last year, and a 2.9pc dividend increase to 35p.

Shares dropped 4.1pc, or 133p, to 3089p, knocking more than £400m off the value of the business.

Chief executive Peter Harrison said performance had been good despite a challenging backdrop.

Customers across the world are ditching expensive stock pickers of the kind employed by Schroders in favour of cheaper computer- controlled funds.