Reuters- New Star Asset Management said on Wednesday it was planning to launch a property securities hedge fund in the last quarter of 2007 with a capacity to short as well as buy the market.
New Star (NSAM.L: Quote, Profile, Research), whose 2 billion pound UK-focused bricks and mortar fund is one of the UK’s top-selling funds, said it had hired Robin White from boutique investment firm Rock Capital to manage the new fund.
White will join the company in September 2007, New Star said in a statement.
A spokesman for New Star said the timing of its new fund launch had “nothing to do with the state of the UK commercial property market”, where returns are widely expected to slow after an extended boom, hitting the performance of British property shares and real estate investment trusts (REITs).
“The product bridges the gap between two parts of our business,” he said, citing the firm’s direct property and equity investment arms. “It’s a natural fit for our product range.”
