Affiliated Managers Shares Jump On Upgrade

BOSTON (AP) — Shares of Affiliated Managers Group Inc. rose on Wednesday after a Credit Suisse analyst upgraded the stock, citing prospects for improving money flows and acquisitions that should improve the asset manager's bottom line.

In addition to boosting his rating to "Outperform" from "Neutral," Craig Siegenthaler raised his earnings estimates for Affiliated Managers, and increased his price target for the stock to $69 from $64.

Shares of Prides Crossing, Mass.-based Affiliated Managers rose $3.06, or about 4.9 percent, to $65.73 in morning trading.

Siegenthaler said in a research note that he expects flows to Affiliated Managers' mutual fund and institutional segments will turn positive in the second half of this year.

Flows of money from institutional clients such as pension plans, endowments and foundations have lagged those from retail investors since the market rally that started in March. Institutional clients account for the bulk of Affiliated Managers' revenue.

But now, institutional clients "are massively underweight equities due to the passive allocation shift" driven by the bear market from October 2007 to this past March, Siegenthaler said.