UPDATE 1-Liontrust assets rise, swings to profit

* Assets under management 2.1 bln stg

* Net inflows 94 mln stg in Q1

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - UK funds house Liontrust Asset Management swung to a profit after strongly-performing funds attracted steady new money and acquisitions pushed assets over $3 billion against a challenging backdrop of eurozone market volatility.

The group posted a pretax profit of 1 million pounds ($1.57 million) for the year to end-March, with revenue rising by 54 percent, compared with a loss of 1.7 million pounds in 2011.

Assets under management hit 2.1 billion pounds at the close of business on Tuesday, illustrating the firm's to attract cash in the crisis. It also booked net inflows of 94 million pounds in the quarter so far, adding to the 152 million pounds achieved in the past year.

"At a challenging time for investment management companies, we have built excellent foundations to enable the Group to continue to grow in the future," Chief Executive John Ions said in a statement.

In March Liontrust bought the fund management unit of Walker Crips Group Plc for 12.3 million pounds, adding 604 million pounds of new assets as part of its plans to boost its asset management business in the UK.

The firm said that 89 percent of its unit trust funds outperformed their benchmark over the year to 31 March.

Liontrust shares closed at 95.5 pence on Tuesday.