The Man Group said it expected to beat profit expectations this year, buoyed by the strong performance of its hedge funds and an increase in its assets under management.

The world’s largest publicly-traded hedge fund manager said today that it anticipates it will best analyst expectations of a pre-tax profit of US$1.8 billion in fiscal year 2008. The firm said it expected a 15% increase in management fee income, as assets under management have grown to US$75 billion from US$71.7 billion at the end of last year. Man also said performance fee income will rise.

“Strong sales momentum has been maintained with sales of US$15.8 billion in the year, reflecting the attraction of our diversified product range, established track record, and the broad geography of our investors,” Man CEO Peter Clarke said. “Good performance has added US$5.3 billion to investor assets during a period when global markets were exceptionally volatile.”

In the first quarter of this year, Man added US$3.5 billion in new money against redemptions of US$2.6 billion.

The firm’s flagship AHL strategy, which manages almost one-third of the firm’s assets, posted a 22.8% return in the past 12 months.