UK- New Star has hired HSBC’s head of alternative investments Charles Tritton to run its hedge fund business which currently has $700m under management.

Tritton, who joins next month, will be responsible for building the hedge fund business which has already seen the successful launch of three guaranteed funds.

At HSBC, Tritton played a key role in structuring capital guarantees for long/short equity funds.

At New Star he will oversee the marketing and servicing of existing products and develop and market a variety of new hedge funds aimed at institutional investors, high net worth individuals and the offshore retail market.

Another aspect of the job will be sourcing suitable hedge fund managers to join the investment team as well as identifying potential hedge funds to acquire.

Tritton spent ten years working in hedge funds at HSBC and prior to that was head of institutional derivative sales. He will also work alongside corporate finance director Ravi Anand to develop the structured products range.

John Duffield, chairman of New Star, said of Tritton’s appointment: “he is one of the most experienced people in the industry for developing alternative investment products and will be instrumental in building our hedge fund business."

New Star was launched two years ago by Duffield, founder of Jupiter Asset Management. Since launching it has won more than $3.2bn in new business.