Man Group plc (MNGPY) shares fell sharply in early London trading after the world's biggest listed hedge fund reported a steep decline in management fees and overall profits.

Man Group said its full-year adjusted pre-tax profit fell by nearly 50% to $205 million and pre-tax profits in management fees fell 8% to $178 million. Net client inflows to the group rose from $300 million to $1.9 billion in 2016, the company said, taking its total assets under management to a record high $80.9 billion.

"Looking forward to 2017, we have started the year with a good pipeline of interest from clients and encouraging performance across most of our strategies as the new global political environment has created many alpha opportunities, but it remains early days in an uncertain market," said CEO Luke Ellis.

"Our focus for 2017 is to build on the hard work of last year and on what makes this business special: the commitment and creativity that drives performance, building deep and meaningful client relationships, investing in our talent and technology, and being disciplined on costs and capital allocation," Ellis added. "Although our industry faces some challenges, I believe we are well positioned for the years ahead."

Man Group shares fell more than 6% in early London trading and were changing hands at 137.5 pence each by 09:30 GMT, trimming their three-month gain to around 19%.