The firm's relative returns will improve as 2008 results drop out of three-year performance numbers, Kraus said.

"I don't think our clients believe we have become somehow mentally incapacitated or that we are not good stockpickers," he said.

The firm suffered because many of its funds held a lot of financial stocks that collapsed in the second half of 2008, Katie Rushkewicz, an analyst for Chicago-based Morningstar Inc., said in a telephone interview.

52% Loss

AllianceBernstein Global Value had 29% of its assets in the group, including Fannie Mae, American International Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc., on May 31, 2008, regulatory filings show. The fund lost 52% that year, more than 91% of peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

"Investors have long memories and it takes a while to regain their favor," Burton Greenwald, an independent mutual- fund consultant in Philadelphia, said in a telephone interview. "There is no shortage of other choices in this business, and there is always someone out there with a pretty good record."

Big investors that have pulled money from AllianceBernstein include New York state's pension system and Vanguard Group Inc., the largest U.S. mutual-fund manager, which uses the firm as a subadviser. As of Feb. 28, 57% of AllianceBernstein's assets were from institutions, 27% from retail investors and the rest from high net-worth individuals, according to a March 10 statement.

Shares Trail Rivals

Like AllianceBernstein, Janus Capital Group Inc. and Legg Mason Inc. have struggled to limit redemptions. Assets at all three firms remain below the peaks reached before the financial crisis, which erased $37 trillion in value from global equity markets from November 2007 through March 2009.

Still, since world stocks bottomed out on March 9, 2009, Legg Mason's shares have returned an annual average of 84% including dividends, while Janus's gain is 71%. Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding LP, the New York Stock Exchange-listed partnership that holds a 38% stake in AllianceBernstein LP, have returned 54%.