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LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Hedge fund firm Man Group EMG.L ended two years of client withdrawals with a surprise inflow of new money in the third quarter, helped by strong performance from its stock-picking GLG unit as equity markets rallied this year.

But the former FTSE 100 firm, which has seen clients withdraw cash for the previous eight consecutive quarters, remained cautious in its outlook for asset flows due to "continued uncertainty in the macro-economic environment", CEO Manny Roman said.

The firm reported net inflows of $700 million during the three months to end-September, lifting total assets to $52.5 billion.

However, investors continued to pull money out of flagship computer-driven fund AHL, which lost 6.6 percent in performance terms during the third quarter.

Analysts at Numis were less than satisfied with the bounce in net inflows.

"We remain sellers as AHL still accounts for the majority of recurring profit, it has performed poorly for the last 1, 3 and 5 years," David McCann said in a note to clients.

"We think management have only limited options in the short to medium term given these issues and actions already taken."

(Reporting by Laurence Fletcher, editing by Sinead Cruise)

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Keywords: MAN/