Suncorp's funds under management (FUM) declined by 13.7 per cent to $23.4 billion in the year ended 31 December 2008.
But since June 2008 FUM had declined only 3.2 per cent, the company said in its results for first half of the 2009 financial year.
The funds management business, which includes Tyndall Investments, saw profits drop by 44.7 per cent to $26 million, and reported $141 million in net outflows over the six months to the end of 2008.
Suncorp Metway reported an overall half-year net profit of $258 million, down 32.8 per cent from the same period in the prior year.
The result was attributed to a higher level of bad debts and severe weather events.
Chief executive officer John Mulcahy said the impact of external events on the results has become a familiar and frustrating theme.
"I say frustrating because it diverts attention away from what is achieved by Suncorp people," he said at a results presentation yesterday.
In the second half of this financial year Suncorp will again incur substantial costs from disasters. It expects to see $180 million in combined costs stemming from the bushfires in Victoria and the flooding in Queensland.
Suncorp said earlier this month that Mulcahy will step down as CEO. He will do so on 2 March this year.
Chief financial officer Chris Skilton will replace him temporarily, but Skilton said he will leave the group once a new CEO is found.
