Janus shares dropped most in 15 months in 4Q on investor withdrawals

Janus Capital Group Inc., owner of the Janus, Intech and Perkins funds, fell the most in almost 15 months after subpar performance prompted investors to pull money for the 18th consecutive quarter. Janus's clients withdrew a net $6.2 billion, the most since the second quarter of 2010, the company said Thursday in a statement reporting fourth-quarter financial results. Janus shares fell 7.5% to $12.01 by 11:36 a.m. in New York trading, after earlier falling as much as 8.8%, the most since Oct. 31, 2011. “Lagging relative investment performance remains the primary head wind to fund flow and performance fee improvement,” Daniel Fannon, an analyst at Jefferies & Co., wrote in a note to clients Thursday, adding that the withdrawals were almost triple his $2.3 billion estimate. Janus reported that net income rose 23% to $38.3 million, or 21 cents a share in the three months ended Dec. 31, from $31.2 million, or 17 cents, a year earlier. (Bloomberg news)