With the stock market basically flat last month, mister market smiled on most asset managers. And they're looking even better with a longer time horizon.

Out of 17 publicly traded U.S. mutual fund firms tracked by MFWire, 14 saw their share prices rise last month. The median market cap to AUM ratio of those firms is now 1.17 percent, up from 1.08 percent one month ago.

Yet the 2022 year-to-date picture is still rough so far. Only three of those publicly traded fund firms' shares rose in the first five months of the year. The average firm's share price slipped 11.03 percent, compared with a 13.3 percent drop in the S&P 500.

The picture improves a bit when zooming out, to the 12 months ending May 31, 2022. Six of those publicly traded fund firms saw their share prices rise in that time frame. The average firm's share price slipped 5.72 percent, compared with a 1.71 percent S&P 500 drop.

And when you look at the entire pandemic period, the picture is even better. All 17 of those publicly traded fund firms have seen their share prices rise from December 31, 2019 through May 31, 2022. The S&P 500 rose 27.9 percent over that period, compared with an average share price jump of 85.66 percent for the asset managers (though their median jump was only 38.76 percent).

Manning & Napier (MN) is up 660.48 percent since December 31, 2019, up 59.35 percent in the 12-month period ending May 31, 2022, up 52.83 percent in the first five months of 2022, and down 0.55 percent in May 2022 alone. With AUM (as of March 31, 2022) of $20.6 billion, its $241.731-million market cap translates into about 1.2 percent of its AUM.

U.S. Global Investors (GROW) is up 251.09 percent since 12/31/2019, down 21.48 percent in the last 12 months, up 9.57 percent YTD, and down 8.38 percent in May 2022. With average AUM of $4.1 billion in 2022's first three months, its $74.029-million market cap translates into 1.8 percent of its AUM.

AllianceBernstein (AB) is up 72.16 percent since 12/31/2019, up 2.75 percent in the last 12 months, down 10.42 percent YTD, and up 6.86 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $685 billion as of 4/30/2022, its $4.232-billion market cap translates into about 0.6 percent of its AUM.

Virtus (VRTS) is up 65.49 percent since 12/31/2019, down 29.96 percent over the last 12 months, down 34.76 percent YTD, and up 8.75 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $170.9 billion as of 4/30/2022, its $1.413-billion market cap translates into 0.8 percent of its AUM.

Diamond Hill (DHIL) is up 59.12 percent since 12/31/2019, up 18.97 percent in the last 12 months, down 4.42 percent YTD, and up 10.26 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $30.3 billion as of 3/31/2022, its $572.417-million market cap translates into 1.9 percent of its AUM.

Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) is up 58.41 percent since 12/31/2019, down 18.5 percent in the last 12 months, down 18.77 percent YTD, and up 6.41 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $776.7 billion as of 3/31/2022, its $5.087-billion market cap translates into 0.7 percent of its AUM.

Artisan Partners (APAM) is up 47.84 percent since 12/31/2019, down 16.48 percent in the last 12 months, down 15.86 percent YTD, and up 19.51 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $147.082 billion as of 4/30/2022, its $2.581-billion market cap translates into 1.8 percent of its AUM.

BlackRock (BLK) is up 39.19 percent since 12/31/2019, down 22.15 percent in the last 12 months, down 26.92 percent YTD, and up 7.11 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $9.569513 trillion as of 3/31/2022, its $100.542-billion market cap translates into 1.1 percent of its AUM.

Victory Capital (VCTR) is up 38.76 percent since 12/31/2019, down 3.74 percent in the last 12 months, down 22.58 percent YTD, and up 4.78 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $162.887 billion as of 4/30/2022, its $1.954-billion market cap translates into 1.2 percent of its AUM.

Cohen & Steers (CNS) is up 31.19 percent since 12/31/2019, up 8.13 percent in the last 12 months, down 17.62 percent YTD, and down 1.91 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $98.003 billion as of 4/30/2022, its $3.625-billion market cap translates into 3.7 percent of its AUM.

WisdomTree (WETF) is up 29.91 percent since 12/31/2019, down 9.44 percent in the last 12 months, down 2.3 percent YTD, and up 2.06 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $78.523 billion as of 6/1/2022, its $879.36-million market cap translates into 1.1 percent of its AUM.

Gamco (GBL) is up 21.3 percent since 12/31/2019, down 19.31 percent in the last 12 months, down 17.69 percent YTD, and up 2.95 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $33.378 billion as of 3/31/2022, its $546.742-million market cap translates into 1.6 percent of its AUM.

Hennessy (HNNA) is up 19.21 percent since 12/31/2019, up 22.96 percent in the last 12 months, up 0.19 percent YTD, and up 6.03 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $3.804 billion as of 3/31/2022, its $79.589-million market cap translates into 2.1 percent of its AUM.

Invesco (IVZ) is up 18.29 percent since 12/31/2019, down 30.08 percent in the last 12 months, down 15.36 percent YTD, and up 5.22 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $1.4761 trillion as of 4/30/2022, its $8.559-billion market cap translates into 0.6 percent of its AUM.

Federated Hermes (FHI) is up 18.12 percent since 12/31/2019, up 10.47 percent in the last 12 months, down 8.85 percent YTD, and up 19.28 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $631.1 billion as of 3/31/2022, its $3.111-billion market cap translates into 0.5 percent of its AUM.

Franklin Resources (dba Franklin Templeton, BEN) is up 13.93 percent since 12/31/2019, down 17.91 percent in the last 12 months, down 19.14 percent YTD, and up 10.13 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $1.4558 trillion as of 4/30/2022, its $13.268-billion market cap translates into 0.9 percent of its AUM.

And T. Rowe Price (TROW) is up 11.7 percent since 12/31/2019, down 30.84 percent in the last 12 months, down 35.37 percent YTD, and up 3.29 percent in May 2022. With AUM of $1.42 trillion as of 4/30/2022, its $28.187-billion market cap translates into 2 percent of its AUM. 

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