NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Lazard Ltd, the investment bank domiciled in Bermuda, said fourth-quarter profit fell 8.1 per cent as currency fluctuations and market turmoil pushed asset-management and financial-advisory revenue lower. Earnings beat analysts’ estimates.

Net income dropped to $158 million, or $1.18 a share, from $172 million, or $1.29, a year earlier, Lazard said yesterday in a statement. Earnings adjusted for one-time items were 92 cents a share, compared with the 87-cent estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Lazard, which derives about half its revenue from overseeing funds, said assets under management slipped 5 per cent last year to $186 billion as of December 31. The investment bank was also the No 7 merger adviser last year as the volume of deals climbed to a record globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That fuelled the firm’s highest-ever operating revenue for that business.

“Asset management, it really is reflective of the lower AUM and turmoil in the markets more than anything else,” chief executive officer Ken Jacobs said in an interview. “We’ve already seen some dramatic moves in currency and valuations. So hopefully we’ve seen the worst of that.”

More than a fifth of Lazard’s assets under management were allocated to emerging-markets equity as of the end of September, according to the firm’s website. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has tumbled 22 per cent in the past 12 months. Lazard dropped 20 per cent this year through Monday, adding to the 10 per cent decline in 2015.

For the full year, Lazard had record operating revenue of $2.38 billion, and its highest-ever net income of $480 million, or $3.60 per share, on an adjusted basis.

Lazard advised on six of the ten largest deals last year, Jacobs said. Just one of those transactions have been completed, he said. The firm worked with Anheuser-Busch InBev SA on its more than $100 billion agreement to buy SABMiller Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s on its deal to purchase BG Group Plc.

Operating revenue for financial advisory slipped 7.8 per cent to $331 million in the fourth quarter, while asset-management fees declined 8.1 per cent to $261 million.