Man Group, the world's largest listed hedge fund firm, posted a 38% rise in core profits for the first half of its financial year to the end of September on the back of strong sales of its hedge fund products.

Gross hedge fund sales were a record $5.8bn (€5.1bn) leading to a first half profit of £190m (€277.5m), up from £138m in the same period last year. Latest product launches have raised $770m while assets under management stood at $32.5bn at the end of last month.