Assets under management rose at the investment firm during the quarter despite a modest net outflow.

GAM Holding, the Zurich-listed investments and financial group, today said its assets under management stood at SFr119.1 billion ($120.3 billion) at the end of September, up 5 per cent from the end of June, despite logging net outflows of SFr700 million during the three-month period.

On the investment management side of the business, AuM were SFr67.3 billion, up 3 per cent on the quarter, driven by the purchase of Taube Hodson Stonex and a positive effect from market movements, including changes to the forex market. There was a net inflow of SFr1.8 billon in fixed income at this business, but this was offset by outflows in other areas, GAM said in a statement today.

The aquisition of Taube Hodson Stonex added SFr2.2 billion in AuM. The deal closed on 31 August.

GAM also bought Cantab Capital Partners. However, this deal closed after the period, on 3 October 2016, and is not included in the reported assets under management.

In GAM's private labelling business, AuM stood at SFr51.8 billion, a rise of 8 per cent. Net inflows at this business were SFr2.5 billion.

"The market environment continues to be challenging. Frequent bouts of volatility amid sideways markets have led to risk aversion among clients. While we remain focused on delivering investment performance, market swings detached from fundamentals have made it difficult for some discretionary fund managers, who rely on fundamental analysis, to outperform," group chief executive Alexander Friedman said in the statement.