British hedge fund Man Group logs interim net loss

British hedge fund manager Man Group on Tuesday revealed a first-half net loss of $164 million (135 million euros), blaming "turbulent" financial markets and economic uncertainty. The loss after tax, suffered in the six months to the end of June, compared with a net profit of $70 million in the first half of 2011, Man Group said in a statement. Total funds under management dived almost ten percent to $52.7 billion at the end of June from $58.4 billion at the end of December. "Against a turbulent market and economic background, Man's funds under management have declined," said chief executive Peter Clarke. "The result is a marked decline in underlying profitability." Clarke unveiled another round of cost-cutting measures to save the group $100 million over the next 18 months and steer it back to profit.