AUM roll-forward: flows, markets and distributions
Opening, net flows, market moves, distributions, closing.
By Surojit Chakraverti, founder of L3VLUP and an investor running a long-short healthcare and technology equities strategy.
On this subject: aum roll-forward: flows, markets and distributions.Updated 30 October 2026
What it does
The base of every asset manager model. Each product’s assets roll forward from the opening balance: plus net flows (what clients put in less what they take out), plus market performance on the assets held, less distributions paid out of the funds. Flows are the manager’s own doing and markets are not, so the two are kept apart: net flows over opening AUM is organic growth, the number analysts watch. Fees are charged on the average of opening and closing AUM.
Where it lives
The same schedule in each model that carries it, with the rows to open. Open a model in the browser, go to the sheet, and click the lines.
- Assumptions, rows 17–36: Equities: AUM, FY0A, Equities: net flows, % of opening AUM, base, Equities: market return, base, Equities: distributions, % of opening AUM…
- AUM, rows 6–7: Net flows adjustment, selected scenario, Market return adjustment, selected scenario
- AUM, rows 10–17: Equities: opening AUM, Equities: net flow rate, Equities: market return, Equities: net flows…
- AUM, rows 20–27: Fixed income: opening AUM, Fixed income: net flow rate, Fixed income: market return, Fixed income: net flows…
- AUM, rows 30–37: Multi-asset: opening AUM, Multi-asset: net flow rate, Multi-asset: market return, Multi-asset: net flows…
- AUM, rows 40–47: Alternatives: opening AUM, Alternatives: net flow rate, Alternatives: market return, Alternatives: net flows…
- AUM, rows 50–57: Cash and ETFs: opening AUM, Cash and ETFs: net flow rate, Cash and ETFs: market return, Cash and ETFs: net flows…
- AUM, rows 60–70: Opening AUM, Net flows, Market performance, Distributions…
What a reviewer looks for
- AUM grown at one rate, so flows and markets cannot be told apart.
- Fees charged on closing AUM, overstating revenue in a rising year.
- Market returns earned on flows that arrived on the last day of the year.
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