Henderson Global Investors, the fund management arm of the insurer AMP, has made a net loss of £23m (€33m) in the first half compared with a £23m profit for the same period last year as it failed to cut costs quickly enough.

The £23m loss on assets of £69.4bn at the Northern hemisphere businesses of AMP's asset management operations is still a marked improvement on the £68m loss Henderson North posted in the second half of 2002.