City of London Group reports rise in interim profits

City of London Group has reported a rise in profit for the six months to 31 December period.

In a trading statement, the investment firm estimated that its profit before tax came in at approximately £5.8m ($7m) during the half-year period, up from a profit of £3.6m in the same period in 2015.

The company also reported a rise in the total of funds under its management to $4.1bn at the end of December compared to $4bn in June.

It said investment performance in emerging markets securities had been "challenging".

"With regards to business development, the group continues to maintain an active pipeline across all of its major CEF (emerging closed-end fund) offerings and has seen an increased interest in the diversification CEF strategies over the past 12 months," the statement said.

"In total, the active pipeline is in excess of $400m, which includes opportunities that are spread across emerging and developed markets, global tactical asset allocation, tactical income, and frontier CEF strategies."