Man Group has instructed around 150 of its London-based quants to return to the office five days a week for a temporary period, as its flagship systematic arm, AHL, grapples with a stretch of disappointing performance, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The return-to-office mandate at the world’s largest publicly listed hedge fund manager started in May and will run through the end of July, and represents a notable shift for the $172.6bn asset manager, which has long positioned its flexible work culture as a competitive strength.

A Man Group spokesperson said the firm is undertaking a focused “all hands on deck” cross-team research initiative at Man AHL, and that in-person collaboration has historically accelerated research progress during such efforts. The firm stressed that its broader agile working policy remains unchanged.

AHL, one of the hedge fund industry’s longest-standing systematic managers, has struggled to generate consistent returns in a volatile macro environment. Its flagship AHL Alpha Programme is down 10% year-to-date, following a modest 3.2% gain in 2024. The difficulties reflect broader challenges for trend-following strategies, which have been whipsawed by erratic market swings, including those tied to the Trump administration’s unpredictable trade policies.

While the in-office directive affects fewer than 10% of Man Group’s global workforce of 1,700, it highlights the increasing pressure on systematic managers to deliver in a turbulent market — and the lengths firms are willing to go to in order to jumpstart performance.

Despite efforts to diversify its business, Man Group’s share price remains tightly correlated with AHL’s fortunes, due to the high fees generated by the quant division. The firm’s shares have fallen by roughly 33% over the past year.