Man Group said on Wednesday that redemptions by investors and moves to de-leverage its investments, led to a fall in funds under management at the world’s largest listed hedge fund group of $14.3bn over the final three months of 2008.

The hedge fund, which last month admitted a $360m exposure to the alleged “Ponzi” scheme run by the New York financier Bernard Madoff, said it ended last year with assets under management of $53.3bn, down from $67.6bn at the end of the third quarter and $71.7bn at the end of 2007.