Polar Capital Holdings PLC
28 April 2008
28 April 2008
Polar Capital LLP
Polar Capital LLP announces plans to launch
UK Absolute Return Fund
Polar Capital LLP ('Polar Capital') announces today plans to launch the UK
Absolute Return Fund (the 'Fund'). The investment objective of the Fund will be
to invest predominantly in equities of United Kingdom companies and to a
significantly lesser degree European and global equities.
Subject to the approval of the Fund by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory
Authority, the Fund is expected to be launched on 3 June 2008 and will be
domiciled in Dublin and listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. The Fund aims to
deliver positive absolute returns regardless of UK stock market conditions by
fully utilising the wider investment powers permitted under UCITS III
regulations.
Subject to the registration of the Fund with the Financial Services Authority,
the Fund will be available to on-shore UK investors, providing them with the
opportunity to invest in an authorised product that can hold both long and
synthetic short positions with daily liquidity.
The Fund will be run by Philip Hardy who founded the UK team at Polar Capital
with the launch of a UK hedge fund in November 2001. This fund has a proven 6
year track record in long/short investing, providing an annualised return since
inception of 9.5% versus an annualised total return of 5.7% for the FTSE
All-Share Index, with annualised volatility of less than half of that index*.
Prior to joining Polar Capital, Philip spent 13 years at Schroders Asset
Management where he became a founding member of the Specialist UK Equity Team
and also took on the management of the Schroder UK Equity Fund as well as
running proprietary money. Philip will be assisted by Nick Shenton who joined
Polar Capital in 2007 and has over four years experience as an analyst and
assistant fund manager on UK and European equities.
Mark Kary, Chief Executive of Polar Capital, commented:
'This gives investors a unique opportunity to access, through a regulated fund,
Philip's proven 6 year track record in long/short investing on the UK market.
Importantly, it comes at a time when investment market conditions would suggest
that increased allocations to sensible low volatility absolute return strategies
are appropriate.'
Philip Hardy, fund manager of the Polar Capital UK Fund, commented:
'Global equity markets are at an inflection point and volatility in the UK
equity market has increased significantly and is likely to remain high. With the
outlook now being less predictable and risks skewed to the downside, the ability
to establish short positions and identify secular trends and pricing anomalies
is becoming increasingly important.'
Enquiries
Polar Capital
Robert Blaxland 020 7227 2737
Iain Evans 020 7227 2740
Financial Dynamics
Ed Gascoigne-Pees 020 7269 7132
Felicity Murdoch 020 7269 7243
Landsbanki
Simon Bridges 020 7426 9569
Claes Spang 020 7426 7706
Notes to editors
About Polar Capital
Polar Capital is a research driven investment management company providing a
highly entrepreneurial environment for outstanding portfolio managers within a
structure that offers a level of marketing, administrative and operational
support normally found in much larger organisations.
Our objective is to achieve strong, sustainable earnings and dividend growth by
building a highly diversified family of long-only, long-bias, equity long/short
and other fundamentally driven hedge fund strategies managed under the Polar
Capital brand.
Today Polar Capital has a staff of 63 of whom 35 are investment professionals
managing 14 funds, one managed account and two advisory relationships. These
funds, which are aimed at institutional and professional investors, have
combined assets under management as at 31 March 2008 of $3.1bn. Polar Capital
now has offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo and Kiev.
Polar Capital Funds plc-UK Absolute Return Fund details
Fund name UK Absolute Return Fund
Investment Management company Polar Capital LLP
Fund structure Dublin domiciled UCITS III
Fund manager Philip Hardy
Fund base currency GBP
Additional share classes Euro and USD
Launch date 3 June 2008
Listing Irish Stock Exchange
Investment Management fee 1.5% p.a.
Performance fee 20% (subject to hurdle rate and
high water mark)
The Fund will be a sub-fund of Polar Capital Funds plc, an open-ended umbrella
investment company with segregated liability between sub-funds and authorised in
Ireland as an investment company pursuant to the European Communities
(Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations,
2003 (S.I. Number 211 of 2003) as amended).
(*Source: Polar Capital and Bloomberg, 14 Nov 2001 to 31 March 2008)
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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