UK – New Star Asset Management, led by former Jupiter investment chief John Duffield, has launched two new investment fund vehicles targeting Europe and the UK.

The funds, a continental European and a UK growth fund, are sub-funds of the New Star Investment Funds OEIC, and will also be available through multi-manager Skandia’s MultiFUNDS supermarket.

New Star’s team of 13 managers and analysts already manages some £1bn for institutional investors.
Richard Pease, who joins the company in July as head of European equity management, will run the continental ex-UK fund, while Alan Miller, chief investment officer, manages the UK fund.

The funds will be managed for out-and-out capital growth investing in companies that offer the “best return potential,” according to the firm.
John Duffield, chairman of New Star Asset Management, says: “ We have laid down the foundations of what I believe will be a highly successful business with a winning culture. I have every confidence that we have built one of the strongest investment teams in the industry and this will propel the fund range to the top of the league tables.”

Skandia’s MultiFUNDS range has been named as the first fund supermarket to offer access to New Star’s new funds from July 23 onwards.
The New Star funds will be available through Skandia’s ISA, PEP and MultiFUND products, as well as through its life and pensions range.

Says Duffield: “We are excited and proud about our new venture with Skandia. I believe it will prove to be one of the UK’s most rewarding new alliances, providing intermediaries and their clients with proven performance through the UK’s oldest and most successful multi-manager funds supermarket.”

The offer period for the funds is July 2-20 with a fixed share price of 50p.
Investments in funds are charged at 5.25% initially, with an annual management charge of 1.5%. Initial commission is 3% and a 0.5% per annum trail is payable for all investments, including direct ones in the OEIC.
A lump sum of £1,000 per fund is the minimum investment and regular savers can chip in £100 monthly, a minimum of £50 per fund.