Putnam Investments, the asset management business of insurer Marsh & McLennan, continued to be a drag on its parent, registering a $14bn (€11bn) decline in assets in the first three months of the year.

While Marsh's consulting business, Mercer, posted strong results for the quarter, reporting an 8% increase in revenues compared to the previous year, it was not enough to prevent a 1% decline in revenues for the overall business.