The client defections may not be over, said White of Cogent Research. Cogent's survey, based on questions sent to 590 institutional investors, found 23% of AllianceBernstein customers who responded said they planned to leave in the next 12 months, the highest rate of any firm.
"They have some real perception problems to face," she said. Because the survey was done for the first time this year, there is no way to know how accurately it will reflect investor decisions, according to White.
Art Collector
Pacific Investment Management Co., the Newport Beach, Calif.-based manager of the world's largest bond mutual fund, got the highest marks in the Cogent survey.
Kraus said withdrawals should slow this year, "assuming our performance continues to be positive."
"We are pleased with the steps Peter is taking to position AllianceBernstein to take advantage of the opportunities the market is providing," Chris Winans, a spokesman for Axa Financial, a subsidiary of Axa SA, said in an e-mail about Kraus' tenure as CEO.
ARTnews Magazine named Kraus and his wife Jill to its 2010 list of the world's top 200 art collectors for his holdings of contemporary art. Assembling an art collection, Kraus said, is not mainly a matter of having money.
"It takes perseverance, tenacity and a good eye," he said in the interview. Similarly, perseverance will lead to better performance at AllianceBernstein, Kraus said.
"Asset management companies aren't built overnight and they don't decline overnight," he said. "What we are doing is executing. We are out there hitting singles."