The stock market's woes have hit nearly every asset-based-fee-dependent financial firm hard, and it looks like American Century is no exception. CEO Jonathan Thomas told the Kansas City Business Journal's James Dornbrook that assets under management at the privately-held fund firm fell $14 billion to $84 billion (previously reached from the other direction in 1998) on September 30, thanks to both plunging stocks and net outflows. What does Thomas plan to do about it? Layoffs before the end of the year are a possibility being considered.

"We are going to be looking at expense reductions toward year end to try and get expenses a little more in line," Thomas told the Journal. "But we'll not do a cut nearly as large as the asset runoff. We'll be looking at all expenses, and I cannot rule out personnel at this point."

The Journal cites a prior cut in May of 90 of American Century's 1,700 Kansas City jobs, which the firm had planned to offset by year end with new hires (see MFWire, May 22, 2008). 

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