Ashmore Group, the emerging markets-focused fund manager, was hit by a decline in fees in the second half of last year, as investors moved to lower-margin investment-grade debt and pulled money from equity and higher-margin multi-strategy funds.

Pre-tax profit fell 7% to £120.2m in the six months to the end of December, according to interim results published today. Revenue for the period totalled £163.7m, a 10% drop from the same period a year earlier.