Swiss asset manager GAM is looking back on a difficult year, with lower profit and an outflow of assets under management. Pressure on CEO Alexander S. Friedman to turn the tide is rising.

Profit at GAM fell 18 percent to 138.8 million Swiss francs in 2015 as a result of non-recurring and acquisition-related items, the company said in a statement today. Net fee and commission income declined 1 percent to 600.6 million, while net performance fees increased 26 percent to 82.8 million francs.

As a consequence of the performance, GAM proposes to leave the dividend unchanged at 0.65 francs a share.

Work in Progress

«The work we undertook in 2015 is not yet fully visible in our financial results,» said GAM Chief Executive Alexander S. Friedman in the statement.

GAM will be disappointed that assets under management decreased to 119 billion francs from 123.2 billion a year earlier. The net inflow of 0.3 billion francs at the investment management unit was wiped out by the strong franc and asset actually dropped to 72.3 billion from 76.1 billion. At the private labelling business, the divestment of the fund administration unit in the Cayman Islands reduced assets by 2.2 billion francs and the total declined to 46.7 billion from 47.1 billion.

Costs Decline

Personnel expenses dropped 1 percent to 290 million francs, with both the fixed and variable compensation declining. General expenses also declined 1 percent, to 104.9 million.

«The transition we embarked on is proceeding on schedule and will give GAM a solid foundation for future profitable growth,» Friedman said. He cautioned that in 2016, with the turbulence in the financial markets, «investing will, no doubt, be challenging.»