The chief financial officer of Ashmore Group has admitted that the emerging markets manager has faced a “challenging, challenging 12 months”, but insisted its full-year results have not been “disappointing at all” as it grappled with deteriorating returns and greater market volatility.

Ashmore reported diminished investment performance as part of its full-year results ending June 30 2015. It said on September 8 that 60% of its assets under management are outperforming their benchmarks over three years, down from an outperformance of 81% reported a year ago. Over a five-year timeframe, outperformance has fallen from 92% in 2014 to 81%.