Man Group's assets under management rose nearly 7% to a record $270.9bn in the third quarter, driven by strong investor inflows into its hedge fund and long-only strategies alongside positive investment performance, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The London-based investment manager, the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund firm, reported an increase from $253.6bn at the end of June, with net inflows of $1.9bn into its alternative investment strategies and $8.2bn into long-only products during the three months to September.

The results exceeded analyst expectations, with total assets surpassing the $262.9bn consensus estimate and net inflows of $10.1bn comfortably ahead of the $3.8bn forecast.

Man Group's systematic and liquid alternative strategies delivered positive returns during the quarter. Its flagship AHL Alpha fund gained 5.4%, while AHL Dimension returned an estimated 5.6%. Man Strategies 1783 also recorded an estimated 2.8% gain.

The performance came against a volatile backdrop for hedge funds, with a July selloff in artificial intelligence stocks followed by renewed inflation concerns, rising oil prices and turmoil in bond markets in September.

Quantitative hedge funds were among the strongest performers during the September market disruption, with several computer-driven strategies recording gains of multiple percentage points as market volatility created trading opportunities.

Shares in Man Group climbed as much as 3.3% in early London trading following the announcement, extending their year-to-date gains to approximately 51%.

The firm operates across systematic and discretionary hedge fund strategies, alternative investments and traditional long-only products, with its latest results highlighting continued investor demand for both liquid alternatives and conventional investment strategies.