New Star is pleased to announce the appointment of Hitesh Thakrar as the lead manager of the £235 million New Star Technology Unit Trust. Hitesh took over management of the fund on Monday 18 September 2006.
Hitesh has worked as an assistant fund manager on the New Star Technology Unit Trust since he joined New Star in July 2004. He has played a key role in helping to reshape the portfolio, overseeing its shift towards a greater geographical diversification and a more diverse weighting across the technology sub-sectors. The technology team has also reduced the number of stocks held within the portfolio.
The changes made by the team have already had a positive impact on performance. The rights to manage the Aberdeen Technology Unit Trust - one of the UK’s most renowned - were acquired by New Star on 24 February 2003. Since this time the performance of the fund has steadily improved under the management of Mark Beale and Hitesh Thakrar. Over one year to 31 August 2006 the fund was ranked fifth out of 16 funds in the IMA Technology & Telecommunications Sector. The fund has outperformed its sector average over all periods since Hitesh joined the management of the fund.
Hitesh will continue to be assisted by Neil Campling, who has considerable technology investment experience having previously worked at Aberdeen Asset Management in both the UK and US. Neil joined New Star in February 2003.
Hitesh assumes lead management of the fund from Mark Beale. Mark is deputy chief investment officer and head of US equities at New Star and Hitesh's appointment will free Mark to focus on the management of New Star's greatly-expanded institutional business.
Phil Wagstaff, managing director of UK retail sales and marketing at New Star, says:
"Hitesh has been instrumental in helping to deliver a strong relative performance for the New Star Technology Unit Trust since July 2004. We believe his proven track record and extensive investment experience will continue to serve in the best interests of the fund's investors."
"New Star's institutional assets under management grew 79% to £7.7 billion in 2005. The strong growth of New Star's institutional business has resulted in a need for Mark to devote an increasing proportion of his time to the management of new institutional mandates. Hitesh's appointment and Mark’s greater focus on running institutional funds will serve in the best interests of both our institutional and retail clients."
Hitesh Thakrar's biography:
Prior to New Star, Hitesh was a global technology analyst at Morley Fund Management. Prior to joining Morley in July 2002, Hitesh worked for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein where he was managing director responsible for the global technology sector and head of a team of more than 50 analysts. Prior to this, Hitesh was a senior technology analyst at Robert Fleming and a European technology, media and telecommunications analyst at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Hitesh has spent more than 10 years working directly in the technology industry. Hitesh holds a BSc in Chemistry from King’s College, London and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the Association of Investment Management and Research.
New Star notes to editors:
Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance.