Amvescap, the Anglo-US fund management group which saw a 16% fall in profits last year, has set aside £23m (€33.6m) for legal costs related to the US probe into alleged mutual fund trading abuses.

Amvescap has to date escaped a haemorrhaging of assets in the wake of the US federal and state regulators' investigations. Total funds under management were up despite losses elsewhere in the group. Invesco lost $4bn over the year, Amvescap's institutional money market funds declined from $57bn to $50.9bn, while AIM, its cash management specialist, lost $6.2bn.