Asset managers lose ground amid broader market woes

State Street Corp. (NYSE: - ), the world's biggest institutional money manager, was down about 4 percent, while Janus Capital Group (NYSE: - ) fell more than 5 percent.

Others asset managers were also pulled lower.

T. Rowe Price (NasdaqGS: - ), a generally conservative fund manager, lost almost 3 percent. BlackRock Inc (NYSE: - ), the biggest publicly traded manager which had posted very strong earnings last month, fell nearly 1 percent.

"People are getting concerned about the markets in general, and therefore they may be looking to trim some of their positions," said Sandler O'Neill & Partners analyst Michael Kim.

Another reason asset managers might be coming under pressure is that they had performed relatively well for weeks. Indeed, the third quarter was relatively strong for most managers as investors flocked to their money market funds for safety amid recent credit market turmoil that pressured stock funds.

"Certainly the ones that have performed better, maybe on a valuation basis are trading at somewhat of a premium to the group," Kim said. "Those might be more at risk to a down market, in general."

The fund companies also have specific issues, investors noted. State Street may under pressure amid news from ratings agency Standard & Poor's that a collateralized debt obligation managed by the company's SSgA money management unit had started to sell assets.

This raises worries that a wider array of structured securities might do the same.

(Reporting by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)