New Star International is hoping to bring a breath of fresh air to Hong Kong investors with the launch of seven retail funds, building on the young company's global ambitions.
Formed by veteran investor John Duffield, who started Jupiter Asset Management, New Star launched its first funds in the British retail market two years ago. It had amassed US$6 billion in funds under management by the end of May, with more than 500,000 individual holdings.
The Hong Kong rollout is part of New Star's aggressive expansion drive. It remains on the lookout for acquisitions after purchasing institutional investors WorldInvest and the retail fund business of Aberdeen Asset Management.
'Hong Kong has fairly sophisticated investors who know what they want,' said Philip Goldsmith, managing director of New Star International.
'Obviously, this has not been a particularly bright time for fund sales in Hong Kong. Equity funds have been pretty slow, but with markets around 20 per cent off the bottom around the globe, there is more interest. We think that if you have funds that have fantastic performance, then people will buy them.'
The seven actively managed funds launched in Hong Kong include three ranked as the best performing in their sectors for the six months to the end of May, according to Standard & Poor's data. They are New Star European Growth Fund, Japan Recovery Fund and UK Dynamic Fund. Asian, emerging markets, a US fund and a bond fund are also part of the retail offering.